


Of deadlines and soulmates

by lookslikepatricia



Series: Of stuff and soulmates [3]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Already tagging it because I try to write fun stuff and people end up suffering, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Established Jung Yunho/Song Mingi, Light Angst, Little Bit of Magic, M/M, Minor Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Not Beta Read, Probably a bit messy, Secondary characters from other groups, Still don't have fun tags to add
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:42:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 42,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25941553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookslikepatricia/pseuds/lookslikepatricia
Summary: Wooyoung has been best friends with his soulmate for the last six years and been together for the last two. With their fresh life at university, too many assignments, and new friends, he can’t help but feel attracted to Choi San, the freshman who had already created a reputation of being half angel half Satan around the campus a few weeks into the semester and also his partner in a project for the scary professor Lee. Starting to have relationship problems with Yeosang for the first time in his life, Wooyoung suddenly notices (and freaks out) that his soulmate mark is changing.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Of stuff and soulmates [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842940
Comments: 18
Kudos: 121





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the most atiny and third installment of our favorite soulmate universe.  
> Because there was no one way I wouldn't write a self-indulgent changing soulmate fic with Ateez's resident umbrella Woosan.  
> I hope you guys have a lot of fun with this one and enjoy it.

Wooyoung had been expelled from his obligatory Photography class three weeks into his first semester of university. Apparently the university’s system had a bug on the subject’s enrollment form and he was being forced to take it from Professor Lee, who every student in the Communications and Arts faculty wanted to avoid since the original class he had enrolled in didn't have any more vacancy. And, it being on a different building from all his other classes made him run late and have no idea where he was supposed to go. He had already crossed three floors and nothing.

“Lost?” Wooyoung heard a voice coming from behind him and turned over to be greeted by cat eyes and a small smirk, framed by black hair and exposed arms.

“Oh, yeah...” He said, embarrassingly surprised by Choi San walking in his direction. The other student stopped beside him and looked at the timetable he had on his hands. “Do you know where Professor Lee’s class is?”

“You mean Photo 101?” The other asked him and, after Wooyoung nodded, smiled showing off his dimples. “I’m going there right now.”

“You’re taking this class too?” He asked while starting to follow the other.

“It’s kind of obligatory for my major…” San said, smiling again.

“Oh, you are a Photography major?” The other nodded and Wooyoung continued talking while they walked together. “Didn’t know that. I’m a Communications major, so we are kind off...”

“Jung Wooyoung…” He called him as they reached the door of the classroom on the other side of the floor. “Professor Lee doesn’t like late people coming in…” Wooyoung gulped, nervous, and the other smirked. “And there are a lot of things that you don’t know about me.”

They entered the classroom, bowing to the professor who looked both clearly annoyed by the interruption. San went straight to the back of the class, where a few girls had saved a seat for him while Wooyoung had to cross the room in order to take an empty seat by the window. The professor went back to his exposition, but he couldn’t focus on what he was saying. His exchange with Choi San, as quick as it had been, gave Wooyoung a lot to think about. Of course, he didn’t know much about the other, them being first years in different majors who weren’t close. But, at the same time, San had already created a reputation for himself around the student body. Almost everybody knew about the flirtatious and upbeat freshman, who would be called an angel or Satan, depending on who you were talking to. And, for some reason, that guy knew his name. He, Jung Wooyoung had caught Choi San’s attention enough for him to learn his name.

The conversation kept ringing in his ears throughout the whole class and, as soon as they were dismissed, Wooyoung saw San leaving with a group of other students. He wanted to ask him how he knew who he was, and maybe invite him to have lunch later, but he had to explain to the professor why he was starting the course late. Professor Lee didn’t look pleased and warned him that he would have to go after the topics already covered in class by himself. Wooyoung left the classroom cursing the bug that made him take this class and went to his next class hoping he could cross San’s way before the next Photography class. What didn't happen and, by the time he saw the other again, he was already inside of Professor’s Lee classroom.

This time, however, Wooyoung had come early and was revising his friend Hongjoong’s notes just to be ready in case his professor decided to ask him anything about the subjects he had missed. The older student, who had taken the class on the previous year, had reluctantly lent his old notebook after three days of being bothered by the younger. Hongjoong had made clear that he was only helping him because Yeosang had asked him nicely and not one could refuse his politeness. Wooyoung wondered if his boyfriend and soulmate was the only reason why the older had opened himself to him as he had tried to befriend since the first week of class. In the beginning, he would always see Hongjoong eating alone with headphones in the cafeteria and, since he was very excited to make new university friends, he approached the other so many times, feigning an intimacy that overwhelmed him so much, he thought the older would run away from him until he graduated only to be amazed by Hongjoong sitting by his own free will with him and Yeosang at lunch one day and maintaining a civil conversation with his boyfriend. He learned later that night that the other had apologized on Wooyoung’s behalf and explained his personality to the older, what apparently had made him change his mind about the younger advances.

Talking to San, then, had become the last thing in his mind and only came back when he saw the other smiling in his direction just before Professor Lee started the class. Boworring Hongjoong’s notes had been worth it since every time a concept that was already taught was mentioned, the professor would ask Wooyoung to explain it. It was a hell of class but Professor Lee seemed pleased with him and the student hoped that meant he wouldn’t pick on him anymore. That, however, wasn’t enough for the most hated professor in the department and he spent the last half hour of the class explaining the project they would have to make during the semester in order to pass the course. It was composed of three presentations, several reports full of visual and theoric references and a proposition who would culminate in a photographic exhibition and a theoric essay about it. But the worst part was that the project would be done in pairs and these had already been divided. Some students protested, only to be coldly shrugged off by the professor, and most left the classroom complaining, though Wooyoung wasn’t one of them. He would be happy with anyone who he could become friends with and San’s dimpled smile to him after being announced as his project partner made him think that was exactly the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm writing two fics at the same time and hoping is going to work out.  
> For those who came from the rest of the series, thank you for embarking on yet another messy love journey with me, and for those who are starting with this one, welcome!  
> I appreciate any interaction with the story and try my best to respond to every comment, so don't be shy.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wooyoung makes new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everybody who read the first chapter and warn you guys that I suck at summaries (and have no creativity in writing notes).  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Wooyoung had made sure to exchange numbers with San as soon as the Photography class ended so they could start working on the project quickly. But what was supposed to be just a text to start it became a few days of random memes being exchanged between them. The student wouldn’t stop giggling at his phone at the most unpredictable times, just because the other had sent him something. He also didn’t mind the lowkey flirtatious tone some of San’s text had, Wooyoung was never the one to complain about flattering or attention, but it made him create a mental note to tell the other about his dating status when San invited him to grab coffee during the weekend. It, somehow, kept slipping his mind in their written conversations and Wooyoung decided that it would be better to just tell him in person.

“Is this shirt okay?” He asked while looking to his reflection on his dorm mirror. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt and black skinny pants. When the reply didn’t come, he turned around and saw Yeosang still sitting on the floor, surrounded by too many books and focused on transcribing some quotes to his studying notebook. “Yeosangie…” Wooyoung whined.

“You are aware that you are asking your boyfriend about your outfit to go out with another boy, right?” The other said, still not looking at him. “You’re pouting now, aren’t you?” He continued when Wooyoung didn’t say anything else and turned to him, where the boy was exactly like he knew he would be, with crossed arms and an exaggerated pout.

“I’m not…” Wooyoung answered, still pouting.

“You should wear that oversized expensive hoodie you have to complete the look.” The boyfriend replied, focusing back on his books, missing the other giant smile.

“Sangie…” He went skipping to him and crouching in front of his boyfriend. “I knew I could trust my beautiful soulmate.” Wooyoung then grabbed Yeosang’s face by the cheeks and squished his face, who just rolled his eyes after being released. “And I’m meeting San with all the friendliest intention on the world.”

“I know that…” Yeosang sighed and raised his head. “But it’s clear that Choi San doesn’t share your friendliest intentions. He wants to get inside your pants.”

“You think I’m hot enough for him to want to hook up with me? I’m flattered, Sangie.” The boyfriend rolled his eyes again, but this time with a small smile on his lips. After six years of friendship and two of those dating the other had made Yeosang so used to Wooyoung’s shenanigans, that he found them endearing. “But we have a project to make and one of the things that I’m gonna make clear to San is that he can’t get this booty.” He smacked his own butt and got embarrassed seconds after.

“Wait, you haven’t started yet?” Yeosang asked, surprised when his boyfriend nodded. “So you basically spent most of this week getting yourself tangled in his mating dance?”

“Why are you talking about San like he is a fuckboy?”

“Because he is one, Wooyoung. Haven’t you heard the rumors?” It was the other's time to roll his eyes.

“I have and decided to ignore them. Most are probably not even real.” Yeosang measured him, wondering if his boyfriend could be so innocent. But Wooyoung looked like he was really sure and that was enough to convince him.

“I trust your judgment, Woo.” He sighed while the other’s face lighted up. “If he still wants to be friends with you after you tell him you are dating, his fuckboy status will be revoked in my mind.”

“You’re the best soulmate someone could have, Sangie…” Wooyoung smiled brightly at him, leaning to him and pecked his lips. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

“You’re so sappy sometimes…” The other responded, lightly blushing, but kissing him again. “Now go or you will be late for your date.”

He laughed and got up, looking fondly at his boyfriend going back to studying. Maybe everyone felt like they were the luckiest person in the world after finding their soulmates, but Wooyoung had felt like that since his first day of middle school when he said hi to the shy boy that had transferred to his class and asked him if he wanted to become friends. Yeosang’s shocked eyes were so cute that he decided that he would be the boy’s best friend for the rest of their lives. They fitted so well that, finding out later they were soulmates was like a giving and they had been by each other’s side since. Where Wooyoung was, Yeosang was probably close and vice versa. The couple had even managed to be assigned the same dorm room in the university, which was great since with all the classes and responsibilities their new early adult dropped on their laps, they didn’t have a lot of time to be together.

Grabbing the hoodie Yeosang had said, his keys and phone and giving him one last peck, Wooyoung left the dorm to meet San. He knew what people could say about him seeing the other, but the boy genuinely didn’t believe half of what he had heard about the other. His nice and funny side balanced well the flirty one and most people who had claimed to have slept with San probably didn’t even have talked to him. But Wooyoung also had the excuse of his Photography project, so he wasn’t very worried. That until he entered the small coffee shop across the campus.

“San-ah, your boy is here…” He heard the very tall barista with a pointing noise and faded red hair behind the cash register scream as soon as he set foot inside the somewhat empty and small coffee shop. His eyes then met with San’s, who was sitting at a table in the corner with a laptop and a few notebooks spread in front of him. The boy smiled to him the way Wooyoung had become accustomed to, eyes closing a bit and dimples in full display. While he walked towards him, San cleared the table and seemed to be saving something on his computer before shutting it off when he sat in front of him.

“Don’t mind Mingi, he doesn’t have a filter.” Another smile was given to him, but this time it resembled more a smirk than anything else making Wooyoung remember what Yeosang had said. “So what do you want to drink?” He observed San closely while he talked and everything seemed calculated. The casual pose, the hair stylishly parted in the middle, and the thigh t-shirt emphasizing his shoulders. Wooyoung wasn’t one of getting at a loss of words but those few seconds that had taken San to ask him a still very normal question made him feel like his brain had been fried.

“I don’t know. What are you drinking?” Wooyoung managed to say making San laugh.

“Nothing yet. But I really like their matcha latte.” He answered, resting his head on one of his hands and staring at the other.

“I don’t like matcha that much…”

“Really?” San’s voice dropped an octave and Wooyoung panicked.

“I think I’m gonna get just a normal iced americano. Also, I have a boyfriend.” He said very quickly, almost mixing up his words, what made the other giggle.

“That’s alright. Both the iced americano and the boyfriend.” San smiled, getting up.

“Wait, where are you going?” Wooyoung panicked again and raised his voice.

“To buy our drinks, silly.” While the other was on the counter, the boy at the table was scolding himself for making things weird. He already knew San was an alluring person, there was no reason to act surprised or bothered by him. But the only excuse Wooyoung could give himself was that he had gotten taken aback because he hadn’t expected him to be so good at that in person too.

“San, I’m sorry.” He said as soon as the other sat back giving him his drink. “You didn’t know that I had a boyfriend and I should have said something before. It’s just that I had a lot of fun texting you this week and really wanted to become friends with you.”

“Hey, there’s no need to apologize.” San laughed. “I wasn’t trying to woo you that much, Woo. I can call you Woo, right?” The other nodded and smiled, pleased. “Look, I wouldn’t pass the opportunity to kiss your plush lips once if I could, but I had fun texting too and I think we could fit well as friends too.” Wooyoung breathed relieved and smiled at the other. “So, tell me about your boyfriend and we can start to actually get to know each other.”

And that was exactly what Wooyoung did. He told San about meeting Yeosang in school, being best friends, soulmates, and dating each other. He also told him about his dislike of mint chocolate and that he had been trying to learn how to cook for a few months. San, in return, told about his half-older brother, an architecture second-year student called Park Seonghwa, that he loved every type of sweets, had a part-time job at a bookshop a few blocks from the campus and officially introduced him to Mingi, the barista who had announced his entrance in the coffee shop earlier and was San’s best friend since elementary school. The barista was the same age both of them, was studying economy and working part-time there to afford cute dates with his boyfriend Yunho, who Wooyoung could have met too if he had stayed a bit more at the coffee shop that day.

Meeting Yunho, however, didn’t take long. Wooyoung started hanging out at the bookshop San worked or at the coffee shop Mingi worked in the afternoons he didn’t class. He usually would be working on assignments there instead of his dorm or the library like he used to do before since Yeosang had a packed schedule with only one morning and the nights free. And it was a lot more comfortable for the Communications student in those places as his loud nature made him sleepy in quiet places. Sometimes San or Mingi would keep him company if their respective workplaces were calm and they would talk a little bit too much and too loud. And it was during one of those afternoons that Wooyoung met Mingi’s boyfriend.

Yunho would always come all the way from his university campus on the other side of the city to pick Mingi up after his shift ended so they could go to his house to have dinner with Yunho’s family. He soon learned the other boy was studying magic and, as he only had the nights and weekends free, Mingi would stay at his place most nights. Yunho was a first-year like the rest of them and was so kind and funny that Wooyoung took a liking to him very quickly. And the fact they had a very similar sense of humor made them become friends very quickly, just like it had happened with San and Mingi. Meeting all these new people and becoming friends with them made Wooyoung very excited to introduce them to Yeosang, who he knew had a hard time making new friends through his quiet nature. He just didn’t wasn't sure how his soulmate would take it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He is the second chapter, guys.  
> I feel like I'm still getting the hang of this fic, so I apologize if things still seem a bit slow. Very soon things are going to start happening.  
> Thank you for the comments, kudos, and hits, it makes me really happy to see people engaging with the story.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making new friends takes a lot of effort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the third chapter. Enjoy!

Wooyoung didn’t have to wait long. One day, not long after he had started hanging out with San and his friends, the Photography student came over accompanied by a taller and very handsome boy to the table where he was sitting eating lunch with his boyfriend. He introduced the other as his older brother and Wooyoung introduced them to Yeosang, who didn’t say much even after the San invited himself and Seonghwa to eat with them. The two friends went off talking about the song one of their favorite singers had released, with the older student trying to keep up, giving some comments that weren’t exactly heard. Yeosang laughed a bit from the scene, not believing there was someone as energetic as Wooyoung in the world and grabbed one of the texts he was supposed to read for his next Modern Psychology History class.

“The Frankfurt School?” Seonghwa suddenly asked him and Yeosang stared at him confused. “I had to read about it last week and write an essay about the intersection between them and the Bauhaus movement. So it’s still fresh for me to recognize the names. Social studies?”

“Psychology.” He answered, quietly not knowing how to continue the conversation.

“I thought about it in high school, but I wasn’t good enough at biology for that.” The older student gave him a sympathetic smile. “Are you liking it?”

“Yes, it is very interesting. Learning about the secrets of the human mind.”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Seonghwa questioned him, confused by the other’s serious tone.

“No..” Yeosang chuckled a little. “I just sound like that sometimes.” The older breathed in relief. “I have always been curious about why people do what they do, so I enjoy studying it.”

“I get what you mean. I’ve always liked drawing, so it was kind of a good call for going for Architecture.” Yeosang made a little ‘oh’ with his mouth and Seonghwa asked him a few more questions, making them fall into an easy academic conversation.

“Hey, look, hyung found someone to be a nerd with…” San said to Wooyoung when he noticed his brother talking to the other’s boyfriend. It made the boy’s heart really happy to see his soulmate easily talking to someone he had just met, but he also couldn’t help the loud laugh that came out of his mouth from San’s comment.

“He is probably very intelligent if he can keep up with Yeosang.” He, then, gave the other a sassy smile. “He is very clever and sharp.” Wooyoung continued, sounding very proud.

“Oh, look how cute you are so thrilled for dating a smart guy.” The Photography student pinched off his cheeks with barely any teasing in his tone.

“You think I’m cute?” The other asked back, cheekily. “Then I really must be, since you are the king of the cuteland, mister Can only sleep hugging something.”

“I shouldn’t have let Mingi show you those photos.”

“No, you shouldn’t…” Wooyoung was going to continue but he spotted blue hair at the other side of the cafeteria. “Hongjoong hyung!” He called, screaming and half of the people there turned to him. Wooyoung apologized bowing to who was closest to him while the very embarrassed owner of the blue hair came to the table.

“Do you always have to be so loud?” He asked, sitting with them.

“I was worried, hyung. You never are this late for lunch. I was starting to think you went to work without eating again.” Wooyoung nagged him and Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

“My class ended late and…” The newcomer hadn’t noticed San and Seonghwa before that moment and closed his mouth very quickly when his eyes met the later. Wooyoung seemed to notice his sudden hesitation and decided to introduce them.

“Oh, these are Choi San, my Photo partner, and Park Seonghwa, his brother.” He said, pointing to them and did the same to the other. “San and Seonghwa hyung, this is Hongjoong hyung, my Arts sunbae.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Hongjoong said, bowing to both and, while he was raising his head after bowing to Seonghwa, their eyes met again.

“And everybody already met me and Yeosangie, so we are all cool.” Wooyoung completed and the oldest boys rolled their eyes.

There wasn’t, however, much time left in their break for lunch to talk more. Hongjoong basically inhaled his food to leave for his internship in a fashion magazine, Seonghwa had a laboratory just after lunch, Yeosang had classes and San would start his shift soon. Wooyoung was the only one free but decided to tag along with the later so he could start his Introduction to Design essay in the bookshop. And after that day, San and Seonghwa eating lunch with them became a common occurrence. The first would take turns with whom he would eat since most people wanting to hook up with him would invite him over to their table, but Wooyoung’s table became the one where he could begin seeing the most. As for the later, he came almost every day even though he had his own friends and the tension between him and Hongjoong could easily be felt.

Besides that, Wooyoung managed to introduce Yeosang to Mingi and Yunho on a nice Sunday afternoon when his boyfriend announced that his brain couldn’t absorb any more knowledge for the day. He took the other to his now regular coffee shop and was very pleased to see Mingi on shift while Yunho sat on the counter talking to him. Even though Yeosang didn’t say much, he made both of Wooyoung’s new friends laugh from a sassy remark, and at sunset, Yunho had already taken a liking on him. San came over a bit after Mingi's shift had ended and they decided to have dinner together. It was a chaotic but fun meal and the five boys started hanging out more and more in their free time, not just as a group but also individually. Wooyoung had gone shopping with San and Mingi on one of the rare occasions both had the same off day, Yunho and Yeosang had met up to study a subject both of their courses had in common and the quieter of the five had met up with San by chance at an exhibition and went to eat with him afterward. And they even had met Yunho’s younger brother, Jongho, when the five of them had come over to his apartment to eat junk funk and watch horror movies one night their parents were out of town. Mingi was so scared that kept disrupting the poor high school senior studying and Yunho ended up being scolded by him in front of everybody.

The Communications student couldn’t be happier with all of his new friends, especially because they were all getting along with his soulmate. But he also worried a lot about Hongjoong and decided that knowing just Yeosang, San and Seonghwa wasn’t enough and tried his best to introduce him to the other boys. He invited the older to many hangouts, but he was always busy with work and assignments, so he decided to take serious measures to make it happen and, after finding out the other lived alone in a small studio apartment outside of campus, he started bothering him to invite them to his place. It took him a week of being very annoying to win over Hongjoong, who regretted it the moment he opened his front door on a Saturday night and found seven boys carrying boxes of pizza and chicken and multiple bottles of soda and booze.

“Hey, hyung, I hope you don’t mind but I invited a few friends,” Wooyoung said and as the older didn’t have any reaction, he made everyone go in and make themselves comfortable. Yeosang was the first to go in, apologizing quietly to the older, while San just greeted him cheerfully, bringing Mingi, Yunho, and Jongho inside, who introduced themselves very quickly to a still dazed Hongjoong. Seonghwa, however, seemed unsure about going inside and Wooyoung basically pushed him inside with himself. He bowed without saying anything and the younger only patted the Arts’ student’s shoulder. That woke Hongjoong up, who grabbed Wooyoung’s wrist.

“What the fuck, Wooyoung? Why did you invite all these people to my apartment?” He complained, angry but in a low voice so the others, who were already putting the food down on his coffee table and making themselves at home on the sofa or the floor.

“To help you make new friends, hyung.” The younger said like it was obvious, releasing his wrist from Hongjoong’s hold and rubbing the area dramatically. “That hurt, hyung. You’re strong.”

“And you’re a brat.” He sighed but didn’t say anything else, what Wooyoung took as permission for going to the others and start the party. Hongjoong, however, went to his kitchen and observed the chaos unfolding in his living room area, with people talking loudly in a stranger’s place. Wooyoung was opening one of the pizzas they had brought while sitting on the floor at one of the sides of Hongjoong’s coffee table. Around him, there was San, Yeosang, Mingi, and Jongho also on the floor while Seonghwa and Yunho were on the sofa, the last one bent over his boyfriend who was sitting between his legs.

“Your friend doesn’t look very happy, Woo…” The tallest of them commented, side-glancing the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, Hongjoong hyung always has that expression,” San responded, opening the snacks and giving his brother a significant look. “Someone should ask him if we can put the drinks in the fridge.”

“And get some utensils too…” Yunho said, looking at the mess Mingi was already making eating from the bag of chips San had slid to him.

“I can go…” Yeosang volunteered, already getting up.

“That’s a great idea, Hongjoong hyung loves you…” Wooyoung commented, trying to catch his boyfriend’s hand while he walked around him to go to the kitchen.

“I’m going too…” Seonghwa got up from the sofa, hastily gathering the bags with the drinks and going after the other, who was almost already in the other room. Yeosang waited a bit for him and they found Hongjoong in a daze.

“Hyung…” The younger called and the Arts student looked at him and to Seonghwa immediately after. “Are you mad?” He carefully questioned.

“Mad isn’t the word,” Hongjoong answered, putting on a calmer expression to talk to Yeosang. “More like in shock…” He interrupted himself, his eyes falling on the bags Seonghwa was carrying. “You can put those in the fridge, Seonghwa...ssi.” There was a little pause and the Architecture student nodded and went to the fridge, doing the task without a word. “I wasn’t expecting Wooyoung to do this, but now that he did, isn’t surprising at all?” He turned back to Yeosang.

“That’s him…” He gave a small smile to the older.

“I don’t know how you date him, Sangie.” Hongjoong gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You two are so different.”

“Well, I love him…” The Psychological student said, blushing a bit. “And I think we balance each other very well.” They exchanged looks but before they could say something else, Seonghwa coughed to catch their attention. The other two turned to him and he smiled awkwardly.

“It’s okay If I get a few cups and napkins?” He asked, embarrassed.

“Yeah, sure…” Hongjoong said, starting to go to him. “They are…”

“I know…” Seonghwa said, in a low voice and then realized what he had just said. He panicky looked from Hongjoong to Yeosang and turned around, reaching the cabinet over the sink, where the cups and mugs were. While he took a few and gathered them to take to the living room, he risked a look to the other two. Yeosang didn’t seem phased by what he had said and Hongjoong, besides avoiding looking at his direction, looked normal. The Architecture student breathed deep and turned around again. “It’s just that most people keep them there…” He laughed it off and was getting ready to leave the kitchen when his younger brother appeared.

“What’s taking you so long, hyung?” He asked, impatient and going to Seonghwa. San seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere in the room and said while taking half of the cups off his hands. “What did you do?”

“Nothing…” He answered and started to walk out of the kitchen, his brother going after him quickly, whispering to him. Yeosang then turned to Hongjoong, who got surprised and scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

“You guys need napkins too, right?” He went around the counter and grabbed a package of paper towels.

“And a knife too, for the pizzas…” Yeosang commented, in a neutral tone. The older mouthed a ‘right’ and opened a draw to take the utensil out.

They went to the living room where the other boys were already serving themselves with their favorites drinks. Hongjoong set the paper towel and the knife on the table and sat between San and Jongho, who seemed to be the most uncomfortable person with that situation after himself. While he observed quietly San, Wooyoung and Mingi discussed what they could do that night and slowly started to learn the names and more about the boys he had just met that night, both Yeosang and Seonghwa observed him discreetly. The first was putting the pieces of the Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s puzzle together while the other was worrying if he had ruined things with the Arts student for real.

“Don’t ask hyung what he wants to do or he will suggest a boring romantic movie…” San said, in a warning tone between two mouthfuls of chips, what caught the Architecture student’s attention.

“Yah, Choi San, look the way you talk to your older brother.” He complained and the other rolled his eyes.

“You know he is right, hyung…” Said Yunho on his side, carefully and the older crossed his arms, pouting, which made Wooyoung laugh very loudly, and both Yeosang and Hongjoong chuckle discreetly.

“Why don’t we watch a superhero movie?” Jongho suggested and everyone turned to him. “It has something for everyone.”

“You’re too young to give opinions…” Mingi commented and the youngest clenched his jaw.

“Say that to my fist, Song Mingi…” He retorted, raising one of his fists and the Economics students showed him his tongue. Jongho got up immediately and Mingi did the same, making the younger try to catch him running around the living room. Everybody started laughing, including Yunho, who still got up and went to his younger brother.

“No beating up my boyfriend… “ He said, between giggles. “Or mom is going to know that you were in the library last Sunday instead of being in the cinema with me and Mingi.”

“Fine.” Jongho stopped going after Mingi and sat at the sofa closest to Seonghwa with crossed arms.

“Wait, what?” Wooyoung asked while Yunho made Mingi sit where Jongho was before and he sat on the floor, beside him.

“What what?” The youngest mumbled, annoyed.

“Why your mother can’t know you were at the library?”

“Our parents prohibited Jongho from studying on Sundays…” Yunho responded, catching a piece of pizza. “He already spends the whole week at school and cram school and revises on Saturdays…” He then looked over his younger brother. “They just don’t want to repeat what happened last year.” Jongho sighed and a heavy silence fell over the boys, who busied themselves with eating and drinking.

“What happened?” Hongjoong asked suddenly, level-headed. A few shocked stares went over him, but he shrugged it off. “Keeping secrets don’t help anyone…” He was interrupted by a snort coming from Seonghwa and they exchanged looks. “At least, not in cases like these…” The Arts student completed, diverting the Architecture student stare. Yunho looked back at Jongho, who just nodded.

“He collapsed one day for not sleeping enough.” The Magic student breathed deeply. “Everyone was so busy with…” He side-looked his brother again, feeling ashamed. “Me and my stuff that no one was paying much attention to Jongho’s schedule. He was sleeping maybe three hours every night and skipping meals to study. The doctor who took care of him at the hospital gave my parents a mouthful.”

“It’s not your fault, babe…” Mingi reached for his boyfriend's arm and they intertwined their hands.

“I know… but still…” Yunho breathed deeply again. “I’m the first wizard in the family in a few generations. Everyone got very excited about my process of getting into university....” He completed, embarrassed. Jongho didn’t say anything while his brother was talking, but moved around the sofa to get closer to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Why are you studying so hard?” Yeosang asked, carefully and the youngest turned to him.

“I want to be a judge…” He answered, blushing. He wasn’t used to people being interested in him. “So I need to get to the best Law school, graduate with flying colors, and pass all the exams.” The high schooler continued, not looking like it was a big deal but everyone in the room understood the weight he must have been feeling.

“That happened to Yeosang, too…” Wooyoung suddenly and everyone turned to him.

“Woo…” The Psychology student whined to his boyfriend.

“Well, he didn’t collapse, but he was always looking so tired with these deep dark circles.” He said and Yeosang rolled his eyes, deciding drinking soju was better than trying to stop Wooyoung. So he served himself a glass while his soulmate continued. “And he lost a lot of weight too. If I wasn’t there, he probably wouldn’t have taken any breaks.”

“And because of you, I took too many breaks…” The other commented, in a low voice, making Wooyoung laugh.

“A real hero…” San said loudly, making more people laugh and making Yeosang and Jongho smile a bit.

From there, their conversation fluctuated between teasing each other and talking about their lives. Jongho explained the agreement he and Yunho had that he could study in peace in the library while the older went out with Mingi, but only in the time between Yunho dropped him there and when he came back to pick him up. Seonghwa told them he could relate with the youngest and Yeosang since he had a similar experience in his last year of high school and San shared that their parents only let him pursue Photography because of his older brother, who had chosen a more stable career and promised to always take care of him. Wooyoung and Mingi mainly teased other people and Hongjoong didn’t talk about his life but felt very close to all those boys that had broken into his apartment that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and sorry.  
> This update is huge and Jongho's sad story came out of nowhere. This is what I mean when tagging the fics that I want to write fun stuff but the angst always wins.  
> Also, I have no idea if there was any connection between The Frankfurt School and the Bauhaus movement. I just need a topic for Seonghwa to start talking to Yeosang and it seems the kind of essay a university professor would ask for.  
> Fun fact: I got stuck at basically the same thing for this fic and for [Of life changes and soulmates](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25830544/chapters/62751529), which is the second part of these series. For anyone who gets interested, it has Pentagon in it and it also deals with a third part coming in between an established soulmate couple. But the plot is a bit different.  
> In a not so fun fact, there is some stuff going on in my personal life and I don't know if I'm going to able to update the fic on this kind of weekly schedule, but I'm going to try my best.  
> Anyway, see you next time.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Procrastinating assignments is a fundamental part of the university experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back on track. Enjoy!

Their night at Hongjoong’s apartment made the eight boys grow closer. Sharing some of their stories and struggles created a bond that Wooyoung had only felt with Yeosang before and he was very proud of himself for being the one that brought everyone together. Seeing Mingi and Hongjoong sharing their music tastes and Yeosang offering to tutor Jongho (with the promise that he would make sure the youngest took a lot of breaks), warmed his heart as much as teasing Seonghwa with San did. They were obviously a loud bunch, but in a very short amount of time, their friendship had started to feel like family. The coffee shop Mingi worked on became their usual spot for hangouts and it was where they all were on a particular Sunday morning.

“Can you all be quieter? I’m trying to study here!” Jongho screamed from a table in the opposite corner of the other boys, where Yeosang was helping him solve Chemistry problems. He had officially changed the library for the coffee shop, which made Yunho breathe a bit more relieved since he could keep an eye on him and enjoy his boyfriend’s company at the same time.

“Pay attention to your stuff, fetus…” Mingi complained while making Seonghwa’s drink, and the youngest tried to get up from his seat, but Yeosang put a hand on his arm. It made him sigh and sit back down, complaining about the barista under his breath.

“You know, Jongho is right…” Hongjoong took his earphones out from his seat at the counter, where he was finishing an essay, turned to the table where Yunho, San, and Wooyoung where making random online tests. “I’m on the highest volume and still hearing everything you guys say.”

“But San just got 15 on a quiz who would predict his age perfectly based on tie-dye patterns!” Wooyoung exclaimed as it was the funniest thing that had ever happened in his life, making Yunho giggle.

“Well, it’s not that far away…” Seonghwa commented, sitting down with them, sipping his iced coffee.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I don’t have your mature and old taste, hyung.” San snatched his drink and took a sip, only to make a disgusted face.

“What’s wrong?” Wooyoung asked him and the Photography student only pushed the coffee on his direction so he could taste, under his older brother’s protest. The boy drank and did the same face San had made. “Why, hyung? Why?”

“Oh, I want to try to…” Yunho said and the other gave him the cup, while the older was trying to get his drink back. The Magic student also took a sip and almost spit back to the cup before giving it back to Seonghwa. “It’s disgusting, hyung. What’s in there?”

“Six pumps of syrup…” Mingi said from behind the counter, where he had watched the whole scene after getting closer to where Hongjoong was.

“I’m feeling a sugar rush just by hearing that…” The Arts student commented and put his earphones back to refocus on his essay.

“Are you trying to kill yourself, hyung?” Wooyoung asked, still making a disgusted face.

“No…” Seonghwa answered, feeling a bit embarrassed. “It’s just that the normal americano is too bitter…” He commented, in a low voice.

“And I’m 15…” San wanted to roll his eyes, but he saw the little pout that was appearing on his older brother’s lips. “It’s okay, hyung. We respect your 3-year-old taste buds.” He said while pinching Seonghwa’s cheek and clinging to him like he was a little child.

“Boring…” Mingi said, going back to his spot behind the cashier register. “Teasing Jongho is funnier.”

“I heard that, Song Mingi!” The youngest exclaimed, making a fist in the barista direction.

“Yunho....” Wooyoung called him, whispering and the taller man got closer to him while both watched what had become an aegyo battle between San and Seonghwa. “Why do Mingi and Jongho act like that?”

“Oh…” The Magic student giggled again. “I think it’s jealousy. Mingi doesn’t like it when I take care of Jongho. He never liked it.” He, then, lowered his voice even more. “He wants to be my only baby.”

“You two are disgusting…” Wooyoung commented, laughing.

“And that’s the reason Jongho gets annoyed by us…” Yunho said, also laughing. “But, you know what I mean, right? You treat Yeosang like a baby sometimes too.”

“Because he is a baby…” The Communications student looked to the other side of the cafe, where his soulmate was saying something to the youngest. “He may not look like it, but he is. Have you noticed he eats in tiny?” He, then, pretended to take an imaginary bread from the table and took the smallest bite and chew it pushing his lips forward.

“He does that!” Seonghwa exclaimed, taking the other two boys' attention. “And he also always gets his lips dirty.”

“See? Baby.” Wooyoung stated.

“Who is a baby?” They all suddenly heard and looked up to Yeosang, who had come close to their table to wait for the drinks he had bought for him and Jongho.

“Mingi…” San said and the Psychology student laughed a bit.

“That’s true…” He laughed a bit more. “But speaking about babies…” Yeosang turned to Wooyoung. “How is the project?”

“What project?” His boyfriend asked, confused.

“Your Photography project? The one you're making with San?” The question made both boys open their eyes in shock. “Don’t tell me you two forgot about it?”

“No, of course, we didn’t forget…” Wooyoung started while his project partner nodded, still looking very surprised, and both Yeosang and Seonghwa raised their eyebrows. The other elbowed San, who got the clue and started to deny it.

“It’s doing great.” He completed and smiled, innocently. “But why you ask, Yeosangie?”

“I just got an alert on my phone from our calendar that the first presentation is in two weeks.” The Psychology student said and got called by Mingi to get the drinks. The whole table observed him going back to Jongho and when it looked like he wasn’t paying attention to them anymore, Wooyoung took out his phone and looked over the calendar.

“Fuck, he is right!” He exclaimed in a low voice and showed the date to San and they exchanged worried looks. “We have a bit more than a week to do the whole thing.” The pair then started discussing what they were going to do and Seonghwa turned to Yunho.

“It looks like Wooyoung is the actual baby in the relationship.” The Magic student agreed, which caused complaints by the Communications student, but San got him to go back to their discussion very quickly because they couldn’t afford to waste any more time. They decided to meet up at the library the next day after class, since the Photography student had a day off, to choose a theme for the project. Both San and Wooyoung spent most of that night researching, but neither had found an idea good enough by the time they met up. So they used their first two hours in the library looking up more references. Surrounded by art books and with both their notebooks open with too many tabs of famous photographers and exhibitions, the two boys were getting more and more anxious by the minute. All their ideas seemed silly or a rehash of someone else's work and San suddenly dropped his head on the library table, groaning.

“I can’t do this anymore…” He whined, head still low. “I’m gonna give up and move to Jeju to be a fisherman.” Wooyoung laughed a bit, even though he was feeling the same desperation deep inside.

“Sannie…” The Communications student called, softly, while pulling him by the shoulder. When the other got up again, looking like a lost puppy, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how cute the other was. “Don’t worry, we're gonna find something to do and it’s going to be the best exhibition of the semester.”

“You think so?” San asked, pouting, but recovering the spark on his eyes.

“Of course!” He said, excitedly, smiling from ear to ear. That alone made his project partner smile too and hug him. “Thanks, Woo…” The Photography student thanked him softly and Wooyoung held him closer for a few seconds more than is usually socially acceptable. “I don’t know what I would do without your positive attitude right now.”

San gave him a full dimpled grin after the hug and Wooyoung couldn’t stop himself from matching it with his own smile. They went back to the project, with no grand success, and called it a day after another hour, during which the Communications students kept stealing glances at his partner. While he went back to his dorm, he could recall every single expression San had portrayed during the afternoon, from happiness, sadness, desperation, focus, among others. If he wasn’t so desperate himself to find a theme, he would have been hypnotized by the other’s expressive face and how easily he could go from one expression to the other. And that was the main thing on his mind throughout the night, which made him give almost no attention to his other assignments or Yeosang.

It was only when Wooyoung woke up the next morning that he thought that this could be their theme for the project. He sent a text to San about it before even brushing his teeth and the other seemed to really like the idea. They agreed to talk about it during lunch and Wooyoung kept on draughting proposes during his morning classes. He showed them to San as soon as they sat down in the cafeteria and their discussion seemed very heated when Yeosang sat with them later.

“It’s going to be very boring if it's just me, Woo!” San exclaimed, making the other roll his eyes.

“No, it won't. You’re great at this!” The Communications student retorted, in the same way.

“But you are prettier than me!”

“Thank you, but you are almost a book for people to study facial expression!” The pair measured each other, both looking annoyed.

“Wait, what is going in on?” Yeosang asked, confused.

“Sangie…” Wooyoung called him whining for a moment. “Tell San that we need him to be our model!”

“Why?” He asked, wary and San pointed from him to his partner, nodding. His boyfriend turned to him, breathing deeply.

“Do you remember last night when you asked me where my head was and I told you about all the expressions San made yesterday?” Yeosang nodded, still confused. “We decided that this is going to be our photo project.” His soulmate looked like he wanted to say something, but Wooyoung continued. “But San doesn’t want to be the model because it’s too boring.”

“It’s not just boring.” The other interrupted, crossing his arms. “It doesn’t show variety or what we want to express with the photos.”

“Yes, it does.” Wooyoung insisted.

“What is?” Yeosang asked, finally understanding the situation. The question caught his boyfriend off guard and his lack of response made San roll his eyes.

“See? He doesn’t even know what he wants to express.”

“Well, if you didn’t like my idea…” Wooyoung turned to him, angry. “Why did you call it genius earlier?”

“Because it’s very interesting.” The Photography student said, losing the defensive pose he had before. “I don’t think anyone else is thinking about doing portraits of emotions.” He put a hand over the Communications student shoulder and talked like he was explaining something to a 5-year-old. “But we need more than just the photos, Woo. It needs to be a full study of human emotion.” Wooyoung looked like he was going to respond, but Yeosang was quicker.

“Well, if your intention is to portray emotions, why don’t you two use the Basic Emotion theory?” He asked the other two, who seemed very confused by what he had said. The Psychology student sighed and looked around his backpack until finding the book he was looking for. It took him a while, but he found a page inside of the Emotions chapter where a few colorful diagrams had been printed. He put the book over the table and showed it to the other two. While they read a few lines, San’s face opened up.

“Yeosang, this is brilliant!” He said to the other, giving him his best smile, which made the Psychology student feel his ears burning. “The emotions even have a specific color representing them. We can use this, Woo!” He turned to his partner, who was growling because he didn’t want to admit defeat. “And there are eight of them…” San commented, thinking. “And we have eight friends. So each one can be one emotion.” He looked at Wooyoung again, getting more excited by the minute.

“It can work…” The partner finally admitted, still not happy, but the Photography wasn’t paying attention to him anymore, going back to the book and the table stayed in silence for a few minutes while he read more.

“Wooyoung, your soulmate it’s as clever as you say…” San said, after he finished and that finally brought the Communications student a good mood back. He kissed Yeosang’s cheek because of the other’s compliment, who blushed furiously making the other two giggle because of his reaction. The three boys continued talking about the project during the rest of their lunch and the Psychology student agreed to help them. The couple, however, missed when San’s expression became serious as Yeosang was leaving for class, and Wooyoung only noticed after he started going with him to the bookstore.

“Sannie, what happened?” He asked, worried.

“It’s nothing…” The Photography student said, vaguely, but then sighed, defeated. “Actually, Woo…” He made the other stop and Wooyoung tried his best not to freak out. “I know I shouldn’t ask you this, since…”

“Since…” He tried to encourage the other, who suddenly looked very small and embarrassed, with his head low.

“Since it’s the only time you and Yeosang have together.” Wooyoung looked at San, very confused.

“I’m not following…”

“But I think we need all the time we can to work on this project and…” He looked up to the other and breathed deeply. “Can you stay at my dorm this week?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the cliffhanger, but I had no idea about how to end the chapter in an interesting note.  
> I hope you guys enjoyed this little chapter where Woosan where irresponsible students. Not judging them, though. Been there, done that.  
> The next chapter is already ready, so the next update is definitely coming next week.  
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living together always sheds new light on people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still sorry about the cliffhanger. Anyway, enjoy!

San’s question took Wooyoung completely by surprise. He didn’t say anything for a while and his project partner told him he didn’t need to answer right away. They finished the walk to the bookstore in silence and while the Photography student worked, Wooyoung tried to focus on his assignments. The question, however, kept ringing on his ears, making him think about it every five minutes. San’s request made sense. He had his dorm basically for himself and working together and in-person on the project every night, while being comfortable and allowed to be as loud as they were, would be a lot better than meeting at the library for just a few hours. They could try pulling all-nighters, which was something Yeosang never let him do, and maybe finish a lot earlier than what they had first anticipated. But it also sounded wrong. Exchanging rooms like that would get them (and Mingi) in trouble, besides the obvious connotations that the request could have.

Of course, Wooyoung trusted San and knew he had no second intentions. However, he wasn’t so sure about himself. Only a blind person wouldn’t have noticed how cute or attractive his friend was and getting closer to him only made the Communications student understand more and more about his charm and how he had ended up with his reputation around campus. He also knew neither of them would ever do anything to hurt purposely Yeosang, but thinking about being that close to San made him nervous and anxious. Wooyoung ended up leaving the bookstore before the other’s shift was over and threw himself on his bed, exhausted. He had been so focused on becoming friends with the Photography student, that every time his mind went into less friendly territory, he made a conscious effort to pretend it wasn’t happening. But with San’s question, it all came to the front roll of his brain.

The boy didn’t move for a few hours, not being able to even fall asleep. All of his thoughts rushed through his mind, every single one making him feel worse. And that was also how Yeosang found him after going back to the dorm after class. He called his boyfriend a few times without any response, which made him worry about the other being sick. The Psychology student dropped his backpack on his bed and sat down softly beside Wooyoung’s head, carefully caressing his hair out of his forehead before checking the temperature. He wasn’t warm, which made Yeosang feel relieved but didn’t explain the other’s behavior, especially because the only movement he had made was opening his eyes and observing his soulmate.

“Woo, what’s wrong?” He asked softly and the other only moved to put his head on his boyfriend's lap. Yeosang kept caressing his hair, waiting patiently.

“Nothing…” Wooyoung said, after a long time.

“You wouldn’t be lying down on the dark if something wasn’t wrong.” The boyfriend argued, making the other sigh. “Tell me…”

“San…” The Communications student started but didn’t know how to continue, so he turned around again and locked eyes with Yeosang. “San asked me to stay in his dorm during this week to work on the project.” He said, trying to make as it was nothing.

“And that’s a problem?” His soulmate questioned him and Wooyoung only nodded. “Why?”

“Because…” He got up quickly in panic, startling the other. “Because I won’t see you!” He whined, hoping Yeosang would buy his act since he couldn’t say the actual reason he was worried about it. It worked, as his boyfriend giggled quietly, making Wooyoung feel a pang on his heart.

“Are you serious?” He asked, half amused, half unbelieved. His boyfriend turned around, avoiding looking at him, which Yeosang took as a confirmation. He got closer to Wooyoung and hugged him. “All this drama because we won’t sleep in the same bedroom for a few nights?”

“It’s not that!” The Communications student got away from his soulmate’s embrace, annoyed. “We almost have no time together, Sangie, and this is going to cut it even more!” The other giggled again, making him angrier.

“It’s just for a few nights, Woo…” He said softly and low on his ear and Wooyoung had to repress a shiver. “And we still will eat lunch together every day, right?” The boyfriend nodded, getting back on his arms. “And we can try going on a few dates after you come back…”

“Really?” The other turned around excitedly, looking back on the Psychology student’s eyes, who nodded. Wooyoung smiled wide and pecked his lips a few times.

“And maybe…” The boyfriend said after the last one, still holding the other close to him. “I can give you something that is going to make you miss me less…” Yeosang closed the distance between them again and this time Wooyoung didn’t repress anything. Hands and mouths suddenly were everywhere and the Communications student at least had the mind to text San saying that he would temporarily move to his dorm.

Waking up on his soulmate’s arms made Wooyoung less worried about San and he could peacefully pack what he would need during the week. He and Yeosang went to class holding hands and they got a bit clingy during lunch, which made both almost everybody else flustered, except for Seonghwa, who looked like he would cry at any moment and ended up getting comforted by an even more embarrassed Hongjoong. After that, the Photography student took Wooyoung to his dorm so that he could settle down and then left for work. San had said that Mingi had changed the sheets and cleaned a bit in the morning, so what would be his part of the dorm for the week seemed like no one lived there. While he organized his things, he looked around San’s room, noticing it was almost like his. The difference was the huge amount of plushies on the other bed and a mural almost exploding with photos. They were diverse, with a few landscapes and portraits of people he had never seen. The majority, however, were from Yunho, Mingi, and Seonghwa of various ages. One caught Wooyoung’s attention particularly and it had a little boy around six or seven-years-old and with familiar round eyes, accompanied by a man and a woman, all of them a bit unfocused and on a weird angle. The boy assumed the photo was from San’s family, taken when he was probably very young. It warmed his heart a bit and made him want to do a good job on their project. So he opened his notebook and started working on the paper they had to subject to professor Lee with the first presentation.

San found him like that, and after getting them dinner and taking a shower, he joined Wooyoung on Mingi’s bed to work with him. And that was how they spent almost all of their free time during that week. The Communications student had become in charge of the theoretical part while the other was responsible for the visual references. The pair worked like a well-oiled machine, fitting very well with each other while working on the project, but also during their silly breaks in between. Living with San also made Wooyoung discover yet more things about the other, like the fact that he was almost always in only his underwear inside of the dorm and that he mainly exercised there too. Both of those short-circuited his brain for a few minutes and made him consciously avoid looking down San’s neck. If people were already drawn to the Photography student just by his arms, Wooyoung couldn’t even imagine what they would do if they knew how tiny his waist was compared to his shoulders. The Communications student got a bit of a break from undressed San on Friday night when Yeosang came over to look over the more psychological theories they were using and they ended up watching a movie together afterward. And it was also his boyfriend who noticed something about San that Wooyoung hadn’t and he told him after he insisted on waking him to their dorm, even though it was just a few floors down.

“You noticed San’s soulmate mark?” Yeosang asked him, while they waited for the elevator.

“No…” He said, blushing and his boyfriend laughed. “I avoid looking at him. Too naked.” That made the other laugh even harder and he had to catch his breath while getting inside of the elevator.

“Only you, Woo, to avoid looking at a hot guy like San.” The Psychology student laughed a bit more and his soulmate pretended to find it amusing too. “Anyway, next time you steal a look at him, look at his right calf.”

“Wait, right calf?” Wooyoung asked, surprised. “Like ours?” His question made Yeosang laugh again and he just nodded.

The elevator stopped on their dorm floor and the other insisted that his boyfriend went back to San’s dorm from there. He did that and kept on imagining what kind of soulmate mark the Photography student could have in the same place his and Yeosang’s was. Wooyoung, however, could only bring himself to actually look at San on Sunday afternoon, while they were conceiving their plan to convince their other friends to pose for them. It wasn’t something necessary for the presentation since they only needed to explain the concept of having 8 different people portraying 8 different emotions, but they thought that it would be better to anticipate everything they could. The other boy had suddenly felt very thirsty and decided to go to the vending machine on the ground floor. In a small slip of the mind, Wooyoung looked at San while he put on a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts and it all made him feel a bit too warm. But what caught his attention was the drawing of Chinese chives blooming on his right leg, exactly where Yeosang had said it was.

San left the dorm after asking the other what he wanted and the Communications student only let himself freak out after the door closed behind him. He got up and sat down a few times, to then walk around in circles inside of the dorm. It couldn’t be, he kept telling himself, but he had seen the mark clearly. He then opened the closet, where it was the only full-body mirror in the room, and raised his sweatpants over his right calf, where his Chinese chives were. The only difference was that his, and Yeosang’s, didn’t have small white flowers coming out of the green leaves. He stayed there, staring at the reflection in the mirror until hearing steps coming closer to the room's door. Wooyoung quickly covered his leg again and sat where he was before, not sure why he felt so panicky over a similar mark.

“Woo, look at the mess I found…” San came in, carrying a bit more than just two drinks, but stopped in his tracks after looking at the other boy. “Why are you so pale?”

“I’m not!” He protested at the same time as a slurred voice came from behind the Photography student.

“If you wanted me to come with you, you should let me in!” San was pushed lightly inside the room and Seonghwa came in after him.

“What’s hyung doing here?” Wooyoung asked while the older got the bag San was carrying and sat down on the floor beside him. He took a can of beer out and drank half of it while his younger brother sat with them.

“I found him trying to get on the elevator. He missed it three times before I helped him.”

“You didn’t help me…” Seonghwa complained, pointing the can in San's direction. “You made fun of me.” He completed, pouting.

“But now you are inside and safe, aren’t you?” The Photography student asked and the other nodded, unwillingly. “Anyway, hyung went to the convenience store and bought a lot of snacks and alcohol,” San said while emptying the bag on the floor.

“I was trying to drown my sorrows until you got in the way.” The Architecture student complained again.

“And because of this, you are going to be very grateful tomorrow.” The younger brother took the can out of his hand and finished the beer. Seonghwa looked offended by his beer being finished by someone else and tried to take another can, but San was quicker, throwing it to Wooyoung. “You can drink the soda I bought for Woo or the banana yogurt you bought. No more alcohol for you, hyung.” He showed the older the two options he gave him and Seonghwa took the yogurt.

“Don’t drink my beer, though. I’m gonna need it later.”

“Too late…” San opened the last can on the floor and made a signal for Wooyoung to do the same with the one that was on his hand. They both took a sip at the same time under the oldest whiny complaints. “And you wouldn’t need alcohol if you just stopped, hyung.”

“I can’t stop.” Seonghwa pouted harder and his younger brother hugged him, from the side. “It’s the only way Hongjoong lets me be close to him.” San rolled his eyes and in the process ended up looking at the Communications students, who had almost choked while hearing Hongjoong’s name.

“Hyung, Wooyoung is here…” The Photography student whispered in his brother's ears and Seonghwa looked at the other boy.

“Hey, Woo…” He greeted the younger and then paused, shocked. “Fuck.”

“What’s going on?” Wooyoung asked San, who exchanged looks with his brother. The older looked like he was pleading something without words, but he kept himself strong, which made Seonghwa pout again.

“It’s not my secret to tell.” The Photography student said, firmly, drinking the rest of his beer soon after.

“But if Hongjoong finds out that I told Wooyoung, he won’t fuck me again,” Seonghwa whined and Wooyoung felt relieved that he wasn’t drinking at that exact moment, or he would have spat beer all over the other two.

“You had sex with hyung?” The Communications student asked, still surprised.

“I did.” The oldest affirmed, suddenly seeming a lot more level-headed than before. “I do, actually. Multiple times.” He then looked at the Wooyoung. “We have an agreement.”

“What kind of agreement?” He asked, getting closer to the older, even though he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“They hook up from time to time,” San answered, with a smirk ready to appear. “A bit like friends with benefits, but Hongjoong hyung made hyung promise that they wouldn’t get closer outside of that. Not sure why, though.” He finished and snatched Wooyoung’s beer, who wanted to complain but turned his attention to the oldest as he started to talk and cry at the same time.

“He said he can’t afford to be on a relationship right now.” Seonghwa tried to clean a few tears, but they kept coming down. “Said he doesn’t have the energy or the time for one. That this is just for fun.” Those words made the oldest cry a bit harder and Wooyoung hugged him from the other side while San embrace grew tighter.

“I didn’t know hyung could be so heartless…” The Communications student commented.

“He isn’t…” San interrupted, still hugging his brother tightly and drawing soothing circles on his back. “This hyung is a hopeless romantic and caught feelings for him all too quickly.”

“San…” Seonghwa whined and the younger brother put his head over the oldest's shoulder.

“You know that he has every right to not wanting something more with you.” The Architecture student lowered his head over San’s.

“I know, but…” He sighed, too overwhelmed by emotions to continue.

Wooyoung didn’t say anything, even though he was dying to know more. Seonghwa and Hongjoong being involved was something that he had never imagined and somehow, made sense. Or least explained why they always looked so tense in each other’s presence. After a while, the older managed to stop crying and convinced San to go buy more alcohol. The project and Wooyoung’s freak out about his partner went to the back of his mind and the pair let Seonghwa unload all his frustrations about Hongjoong on them, accompanied to some details about their relationship that left the Communications student scared for life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what happened in this chapter with all these sexy mentions hahahahaa.  
> Also, surprises no one that Seongjoong have been spending time together in secret. How else he would know where Hongjoong keeps his cups?  
> Anyways, every time I see more hits and kudos on this fics, my day becomes brighter, so thanks, everyone.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is full of highs and lows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while, but I'm back. Enjoy!

In the last few days before the presentation, Wooyoung and San revised and practiced like crazy, scared that any flaw would make professor Lee turn down their project’s proposition. The Communications student was, however, positive that their strict professor would fall in love with the idea like they had and after getting his approval, everything would be smooth sailing for the rest of the semester. At the same time, the fact that his time at San’s dorm was ending made him realize how quickly he had gotten used to living with the Photography student. It also made him aware of how much he would miss seeing him every night before going to bed or the occasional after midnight night talks they had, that went from conspiracy theories, like the one that said rainbows were controlled by the government and kept them awake until 3 am one night, to the meaning of life and their fears of the future.

It also made Wooyoung think back to the beginning of his friendship with Yeosang, where he had similar talks with his soulmate. They would spend whole afternoons in each other’s living rooms after school talking about anything or everything and, for someone so young, six years of friendship felt almost like a shared lifetime and the couple, while growing up and especially after starting to date, had fallen into a pattern of just being around each other without a lot of deeper interactions. Developing this new bond with San made Wooyoung miss those conversations and sometimes wish to go back at the time when everything was simpler and his whole world was just spending afternoons with his soulmate. So the Communications student decided he would try to recover a bit of that spark with his boyfriend as soon as he was back in their room.

The morning of the first presentation was a blur. Neither of the boys talked much and San had this look on his face that he could throw up at any minute. And to help with their anxious state, professor Lee came to class with the order the pairs already ready and they were almost the last ones. Luckily, most of the projects were not very interesting and that made Wooyoung feel even more confident in their idea. When their time came, the Communications student saw another of San’s mood flips and he went from a nervous ball to a charming and professional photographer. It shouldn’t have stirred something inside of Wooyoung, but there was something about his friend being so serious and focused that was just sexy. However, the student didn’t have time to dwell on those feelings, since they were in the middle of explaining their project. So he refocused himself on the present and his part of the project.

By the end of the presentation, professor Lee looked very interested in how they would use a different color and model for each emotion and even gave them a few pieces of advice about poses they could try, which was something he hadn’t done to any other project, so both San and Wooyoung felt very proud of themselves for it. They sat back on their seats to watch the last few presentations and, every time the professor used their project as an example of a well-researched proposition, they exchanged identical grins. Only the last project received similar praise then theirs and the theme was something that cracked Wooyoung’s happiness a little bit. It was the project of two girls who Wooyoung wasn’t sure about their names and it was about soulmate marks. The Communications student tuned out their explanation after they said that the inspiration came from the fact that both of their families came from a magical background and kept staring blankly at their PowerPoint presentation where visual references from famous photographers that had already explored the theme were being shown.

For some reason, their presentation unsettled Wooyoung. It made him remember the freak out he had about San’s mark. People could have similar soulmate drawings, right? Maybe that even meant they could be good friends with the person like he was with San? The boy wasn’t sure and regretted not paying that much attention to magic classes in high school, after all, he had already found his soulmate. But it looked like this was the kind of information that should be available to anyone and it wasn’t for Wooyoung. Actually, he didn’t even understand why he was so bothered by it. Yeosang looked like he found it just a bit amusing while he had almost lost his mind over it. After class, professor Lee asked Wooyoung for a quick word and hearing him say that he was pleased about his progress in class should have gotten the student full good mood back, but seeing San talking to the girl with pink hair from the soulmate project made him worry if she was asking him to pose for them, what would expose the Photography student’s marks for the world and he panicked again. Rationally, he knew nothing going on his mind made any sense. No one would care if his soulmate mark was similar to San’s and he wasn’t that keen on wearing shorts in the first place, so people wouldn’t even make that connection.

“Woo, Gahyeon asked me to have lunch…” His friend came back to him after he was finished with the professor. “Are you okay?” He asked, suddenly worried about Wooyoung’s blank expression.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The Communications student said firmly and San didn’t press him, even though he wasn’t convinced. “What were you saying?”

“I’m going to have lunch with Gahyeon, so our celebration can be during dinner?” The Photography student wondered. “We can invite everyone and start convincing them to pose…”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea…” He answered, absentminded.

“Than meet me later at Mingi’s coffee shop?” San asked, trying to make sure Wooyoung knew what he was saying, but the other only nodded and left, still looking mostly out of it.

The Communications student didn’t pay any attention to his second class, still thinking about soulmate marks. Mid-through class, he decided to get on his phone and research about the subject, mostly getting results that said what he already knew. There were, however, a lot of different people asking about personal experiences and other few answering them, but he wasn’t sure if he could trust the internet about it. Not going anywhere with it, he decided to focus on something else, but the only thing that caught his attention was when he sat with Seonghwa in the cafeteria. The older had been bothering him since his drunk confession to not spill anything to anyone, especially to Hongjoong, and Wooyoung was having a lot of fun seeing the Architecture student freak out over it.

“Don’t worry, hyung, I’m not going to say anything…” He said while sitting down beside Seonghwa.

“Fuck, Wooyoung, you scared me…” The other whispered, watching closely the cafeteria’s door. “Shit, they’re coming…” He turned abruptly to the Communications student after seeing Hongjoong and Yeosang coming in. “You better not, Jung Wooyoung or you’re gonna experience my wrath first handed.” Seonghwa threatened him, making the boy laugh loudly.

“Hyung, you can’t hurt a fly even if you wanted…”

“There things about me that you don’t know, brat…” He retorted, still in his threatening tone.

“Oh, you mean like that…” Wooyoung provoked him. “I’m not into those things, hyung. Not like Hongjoong hyung seems to be…” His words made Seonghwa wide his eyes and freak out, both because the other two boys were coming closer to the table and because he didn’t know how the other could know about it. The Communications student giggled with his reaction. “You should be more careful about what you say when you’re drunk, hyung.” He whispered and saw the older get very red at the same time the others sat with them.

“Is Seonghwa okay?” Hongjoong asked Wooyoung as he would usually do. He wouldn’t talk directly to the other unless it was strictly necessary, always referring to any of the other boys if the subject had anything to do with the Architecture student. And now that Wooyoung knew why, he put a lot of effort into embarrassing both of them wherever he could.

“I think he got embarrassed about the wet dream he had about you, hyung…” The Communication student commented like he was talking about the weather and just waited for the chaos to get insured on the table. Seonghwa, becoming even redder, started to stutter that Wooyoung was lying and he hadn’t had a dream like that about Hongjoong while the other was trying to hide his curiosity and embarrassment behind a nonchalant way of saying that things like that were normal. Yeosang, however, was only rolling his eyes and focusing on his lunch until things calmed down.

“How was the presentation?” He asked his boyfriend after Seonghwa could say a whole sentence without stuttering.

“Oh, it was great. Professor Lee really liked the color thing, Sangie.” Wooyoung then turned to him and pinched his cheek. “Thanks for that.”

“That was today?” Hongjoong asked, and the Communications student nodded.

“Actually, San said we should celebrate with everyone, so be at Mingi’s work at dinner time.” He summoned them, gaining three eye rolls. Still, he knew they would be there.

After lunch, Woooyoung went to San’s dorm to retrieve his stuff, thinking that it would be better for him to do it while the other wasn’t there but he went through a very awkward moment when meeting Gahyeon while she was leaving the room. He got in only making a disgusted face to his friend, who shrugged while finishing to dress up to work. They ended up having a bit of a quiet emotional moment when San observed the other starting to gather the things that had spread around the room in just a week and Wooyoung turned to him suddenly, meeting his eyes. There was something that the boy didn’t understand about the other’s look, but the moment passed with a small shake of the head and San just said a “see you later” before leaving for work.

The Communications student finished getting his stuff and, with a last look at the mirror, he recognized San’s look in his own eyes. Not wanting to deal with that, he left the dorm and went to his, to only dropping the backpack with his things on his bed and going to Mingi’s coffee shop to work on the essay he had been postponing because of the Photography project. As soon as he set foot in the coffee shop, Mingi asked him about the presentation and Wooyoung took his time to talk about it. Then movement started to grow and he decided to finally start the essay to leave the barista to work in peace. He didn’t make a lot of progress in the beginning and the other suddenly started talking to him.

“Do you think Yunho would like pink hair?” Mingi asked him out of nowhere and the Communications student didn’t take his eyes from the screen of his notebook to answer.

“Probably…” He answered vaguely and the other sighed. “You know him better than I do.”

“I know, but…” Wooyoung raised his eyes and saw the other looking somewhere else. He then turned in the same direction and saw the tallest guy he had ever put eyes on talking to another man, who could pass by as an actor from a drama.

“Your hair is almost that color, Mingi.” He noted and the barista turned to him.

“Yeah, I know…” The other started, scratching his head. “It’s just that I’ve been seeing that guy a lot around here and been thinking about it. He looks good, right?”

“I guess…”

“And I think he is my sunbae, but I don’t remember seeing him at university before.” Wooyoung just hummed to indicate that he was listening while Mingi continued rambling. “And they’ve been here for a long time. Sangyeon hyung said they came in just before lunchtime.”

“Who?” He asked, confused.

“My manager.” The Economics student said, going back to observe the other men. “Do you think they are dating?” The question made Wooyoung chuckle. “Maybe they are one of those couples who spend a lot of time together in the beginning and the shorter started to like the taller because of the pink hair.”

“You have a great imagination, Mingi…” The Communications student commented and didn’t miss the warm smile the barista gave him in return.

The rest of Wooyoung’s afternoon was spent like this, between Mingi’s random comments and his essay, and after the sunset, most of their friends came into the coffee shop. San was the last one to come saying that Seonghwa would meet them later at the barbecue restaurant and a few minutes later, Yeosang received a text from Hongjoong saying the same. They moved to the restaurant and while waiting for the oldest, San and Wooyoung took turns to talk about the presentation. The Photography student, however, didn’t stop after they finished about theirs and kept going about the other projects. It calmed his partner down and Yeosnag whispered to his boyfriend if he was alright, who just nodded. Hongjoong and Seonghwa got there during San’s monologue and Wooyoung welcomed the distraction. But soon his partner started to talk about the one project he didn’t want to think about.

“Yunho…” Wooyoung turned to the other, whispering. It took him a while to realize that the Communications student was calling, but he still gave him his undivided attention. “What does it mean if someone has a similar soulmate mark than you?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, in a similar tone, but Wooyoung didn’t elaborate. “How similar?” The Magic student tried again.

“Very similar and in the same place…” The Communications student said vaguely.

“I’m not sure…” Yunho answered, thinking. “Never heard about a case like this but, you know, I’m a freshman…” He gave the other a little chuckle that wasn’t returned. “I can look it up, though. But why are you asking?” Wooyoung turned to him and his panicked expression took Yunho aback. “Who?” He asked, mysteriously, starting to guess the situation and the Communications only turned his eyes in San’s direction, making him understand. “Don’t worry too much, Woo.” The Magic student put an arm around his shoulders. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Yunho…” Mingi whined, after noticing his boyfriend half hugging Wooyoung and made grabbing hands to him. The other two boys laughed and Yunho let go of him, clinging to the Economics student.

“But…” Jongho said from the other side of the table, in San’s direction. “You said you and Wooyoung hyung are doing eight emotions, right, hyung?” The Photography student nodded with the mouth full of meat and the youngest looked around the table, counting them. “Does that mean you want us to pose for your project?” San nodded again, enthusiastically, still chewing and a whole plethora of reactions happened around the table.

“I was already expecting that…” Said Seonghwa, serving himself some meat and both Mingi and Yunho nodded, stating to discuss each emotion they could be, while Yeosang breathed deeply with a serious expression.

“Wait, really?” Hongjoong asked, surprised. Wooyoung opened his mouth to answer him, but he raised his hand, interrupting him. “I’m gonna have to think about it and see if I could fit it on my schedule. When are you planning to take the photos?”

“We have another month until the next presentation and there we need to show the first draft of the exhibition. So probably a week or two afterward.” San answered, casually.

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to think about it too, hyung…” Jongho said and the pair left the subject to die down when Yunho started scolding Mingi for trying to get his hands under his shirt while in public. They still had time to convince them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's me... I've been wondering if... you guys liked the chapter (random Adele reference).  
> It took me a while to write this chapter but I had quite some fun with it, so I hope you guys had too.  
> I also hope you guys got the easter egg I put from part 2 (it's the Pentagon one, [Of life changes and soulmates](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25830544)). And there are some small references for the next parts too (event though they are still on very earlier stages of development).  
> Thank you for all the hits, bookmarks, and comments.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being confused usually makes things messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm missing Ateez a lot, so enjoy!

Being back in his dorm that night made Wooyoung confused. He felt happy for being back at the closest thing he could call home since leaving his parents' house, with his bed and things around him, all his clothes in the closet, and his hurricane of papers and books on the desk. But, most importantly, Yeosang was there too, starting to spread himself around the floor between notes, to do his last revision for the night. The Communications student hadn’t realized how he had missed that and threw himself into his boyfriend’s arms as soon as he made himself back at home. However, being in his arms and kissing the other passionately made him think about San. What the other was doing right now? Was he thinking about him too? Or was he finding a one night stand now that he had the dorm all back to himself?

“Hey, calm down. You’re wrinkling my notebooks!” Yeosang exclaimed after Wooyoung let go of his lips to catch his breath. “Did you miss me that much?” He asked but his soulmate only brought their lips back together as an answer. But deepening the kiss and gently pushing Yeosang to lie down on the floor, so he could be full on top of him still didn’t take the other boy out of his mind.

Wooyoung blamed the alcohol he drank earlier that night, but every piece of Yeosang’s skin he touched or tasted made him wonder how would be doing the same with San. If his friend made the same pretty noises as his boyfriend when he sucked the right spot under his jawline. Or if he would feel so full by having the other inside of him as he did with Yeosang. And for some weird and twisted reason, all those thoughts only made him even more willing instead of embarrassed.

The shame, however, came in the morning. From the moment Wooyoung had opened his eyes, images of what he had thought and done in the previous night rushed through his mind and he tried to get rid of them by scrubbing himself clean during his morning shower. But it had no use, and the images continued to flood his brain. The only relief he had was that Yeosang didn’t have class so early that morning so he hadn’t to talk to anyone until lunchtime.

Lunch was an awkward experience that day, but only the Communications student felt it. Having both San and Yeosang around him and talking normally kept Wooyoung quiet and unfocused on what was happening, which made all the other boys puzzled by his behavior. While they were leaving the cafeteria together, Seonghwa asked him what was going on and the younger played it as just being tired from the project cramming in the previous week. He also used that excuse to go back to his dorm instead of going to San’s workplace, thinking that maybe a nap would make things go back to normal. It didn’t and for the rest of the week, the boy felt himself put some distance between him and his friends. That was especially for San and Yeosang and more questions were raised about what was happening.

“Woo…” His boyfriend called him, surprised by seeing him again inside of their dorm when he came back from class on Friday night. The boy turned to the other and gave him a tired smile, focusing back on the almost blank document on the screen of his computer. “What’s going on?” Yeosang asked, setting his backpack on the bed and sitting close to Wooyoung.

“Nothing…” The soulmate answered, sounding absentminded, but making an obvious attempt of not turning to the other.

“Hey…” Yeosang called again, getting closer while putting a hand on Wooyoung’s shoulder. “I’ve known you for too long to know there’s something wrong.” The boyfriend still didn’t turn to him, blankly staring at the screen in front of him. The Psychology student sighed, getting up, knowing he couldn’t force the other to talk. He, however, felt a light grip on his wrist before he could move and turned back to Wooyoung, who was slowly turning around to face him. Yeosang sat back on his boyfriend’s bed and waited.

“I don’t know…” He said, not looking at his soulmate. “I think I’m confused…” Wooyoung’s voice was low and weak and the other instinctively reached for his hands. The boy let him hold them but still didn't raise his eyes from his lap.

“About?” The Psychology student’s voice came out more curious than he wanted, but the note of softness on it made his boyfriend raise his head and shrug. The small scared look that Wooyoung was trying to hide didn’t go unnoticed by Yeosang, but he decided to press him. “It’s okay, Woo. You can tell me when you’re ready…” He smiled softly at his soulmate and tried to get up again, but this time the other held him in place by his hands.

“You…” Again his voice came out weak and the boy wasn’t feeling very comfortable about being this vulnerable. “Are you not bothered by it?” Wooyoung stabilized his voice a little, receiving a very confused expression from his boyfriend. “By San’s mark?” He completed, after a few seconds of silence.

“Woo…” Yeosang said, smiling fondly at the other. A few thoughts went by his head while the Psychology student tried to find the one that would make his soulmate feel understood and supported. “I think it is interesting, but I haven’t thought much about it. After all, our bond is bigger than a drawing, right?” He wasn’t very satisfied with his word but the small nod Wooyoung gave him made him feel a bit relieved. “You’ve worried about it?”

“A bit…” The Communications student admitted, still speaking softly, surprising Yeosang. After noticing the blooming Chinese chives on San’s ankle, the subject had completely spilled his mind and he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t anticipated his boyfriend being strung out by it. It made him wonder if he felt more secure in their relationship than Wooyoung.

“Maybe it's because we haven’t been seeing each other a lot lately….” He said, making himself sound more thoughtful than he felt. The other gave him confused puppy eyes and Yeosang’s heart swelled a bit at the sight. “How about we go on a date tomorrow?” Wooyoung's expression lit up and he started to nod excitedly.

“But, don’t you have a test on Monday you need to study?” The boyfriend asked, suddenly having another mood drop.

“You are more important, Woo…” Yeosang said, confident and Wooyoung pecked his lips, proud.

On the surface, the Psychology student effort worked. The couple went to bed that night looking thrilled. But their talk also created an imperceptible crack between them, since, while the Communications student continued to wonder about his feelings and thoughts about San, his soulmate started to worry about what had happened in their seemingly great relationship.

From the moment Yeosang had met Wooyoung, he felt loved and accepted. His shy and quiet nature attracted the other instead of repulsing like it usually happened, and they found someone to rely on while growing up. Of course, his soulmate's loudness sometimes annoyed him and they had some fallouts during the years because of it, but being so close to someone made from a very different essence than theirs made each other learn to be more empathetic. And his life with the Communications student was something that Yeosang wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

At the same time, he knew something had changed in them the moment Wooyoung asked him to be his boyfriend. New feelings surfaced and they felt in a comfortable role as soulmates. And that was something the other liked to bust out to the entire world at any chance. It was cute, but Yeosang knew from an early age that it wasn’t enough to build a healthy and long term romantic relationship. So he put a lot of effort into keeping his boyfriend somewhat grounded while they both went through the complicated transition between adolescence to adulthood. That, on top of all of his internal pressure to succeed in his studies, took a lot of energy, so he knew he had let go of some of the things that were very important for them in the earlier days of their relationship, and maybe that was the problem. Maybe for his soulmate that was the base of their bond. He just hoped that this date idea would work for them.

The next day, the two boys crammed as many assignments they could during the morning so they could go to the movie theater in the afternoon. It wasn’t like they had a particular movie they wanted to watch, but it was the kind of place that, if all the choices were boring, they could at least make out in the dark, like they have done back in high school. Getting there, they noticed that the latter case would most likely happen, so they bought tickets for the closest session of a romantic comedy that would start in just half an hour. To pass time, the couple played around a few arcade machines that were inside of the cinema, and Wooyoung's loud laugh while Yeosang kept missing the penguin plush on the claw machine, made him smile fondly. They ended up being a bit late for the movie, but the Communications student insisted on buying popcorn.

“Do you want half and half?” Wooyoung asked his boyfriend when was their turn to order and Yeosang only shrugged, receiving an annoyed look back.

“You are the one who wanted popcorn, Woo.” He argued back and the other rolled his eyes.

“And I’m asking you if you want…”

“Just buy what you want and leave him alone…” An angry comment came from behind them and they turned back because the voice sounded familiar. The couple ended up facing San and Seonghwa, the first ready to apologize for his older brother’s behavior and the other puffing annoyed and crossed arms over his chest.

“What are you guys doing here?” Wooyoung asked voice pitched in surprise, making San laugh.

“Hyung had a rough night if you know what I mean…” The Photography student winked and elbowed Wooyoung. “So I’m trying to cheer him up. And you two?”

“Date…” Yeosang answered, blushing, and Seonghwa lost his angry posture, starting to look sad. He started to ramble quietly about something the other two boys couldn't hear and San panicked. The couple exchanged looks and Wooyoung couldn’t help himself.

“What movie are you guys watching?” He asked and San just pointed to the poster, while whispering to his brother to calm down. It was the same the couple would watch and they exchanged looks again. “We can watch it all together!” Wooyoung exclaimed with false enthusiasm caught the other two attentions. “That would be nice, right, hyung?” The oldest looked at him a bit confused and then nodded, a bit happier.

San and Yeosang sighed, but for different reasons. The Photography student was relieved for not having to deal with his older brother’s heartache alone at the same time the other got a bit annoyed that his date had been interrupted like that. However, he could imagine why their oldest friend was in such a bad mood, and while making a mental note to talk to Hongjoong about it, he breathed deeply a few times to get rid of the negative emotions. The four boys ended up watching the movie and having dinner together afterward. The two brothers apologized a few times for getting in the middle of their date after Seonghwa had recovered a bit of his normal mood, but the couple dismissed it, saying it wasn’t a problem. But they couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed by it.

Throughout the next weeks, Wooyoung and Yeosang went on dates to try to retrieve what was missing in their relationship, with a low rate of success. Everywhere they went, soon or later one of their friends ended up appearing in the same place. And more often than not, said friend would be San. He tagged along on their museum date on a Sunday morning, gathered around with other friends on their bar date, and busted the little trip the couple tried to take to the beach transforming it into a group activity. It wasn’t like the boys couldn’t refuse or hadn’t had fun during those times, but as time passed by, they started to get frustrated with the situation. They were also sure that the Photography student wasn’t doing it on purpose, being the social butterfly he was, but Yeosang kept on feeling his jealousy grow in the pitch of his stomach every time the other boy clung to his boyfriend during their supposed date times.

“You know how he is, Sangie…” Yunho told him during one of those times. Wooyoung and Yeosang had decided to go to a different coffee shop to try not to meet any of their friends, but Mingi had seen them and complained that they were betraying him by going to another establishment and the couple went back to their usual hangout spot only to find the other six boys there too. As soon as San saw them, he took Wooyoung out to convince Hongjoong to pose for their project and Yeosang sat with Yunho, Seonghwa e Jongho. The three boys noticed his sour mood and the Psychology student ended up spilling what was on his mind just by how tired he was of the situation. “San likes to be the center of attention and…” The Magic student looked around, gathering courage. “Frankly, Woo is the same. So they, you know...”

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean Wooyoung hyung should just go with the flow because of this.” Jongho completed, taking Yeosang’s side. “If he wants to be alone with his boyfriend, he needs to stop letting San hyung cling on to him.”

“Jongho is right…” Seonghwa commented. “Sanie is a sweetheart but he won’t notice if you two don’t talk to him. Have you tried this?”

“We did…” Yeosang said, sighing. “And then our beach trip happened.” The other three boys laughed discreetly while he gave them a resigned smile.

“I meant actually telling him that you two want to spend time alone.” The Architecture student argued. “And preferably telling him the time and place you’re going so that he can’t show up there.”

The Psychology student thought about it and, not sure of what he could do more, decided to talk it through with Wooyoung. He didn’t want to make San feel like they were excluding him when that was what they were supposed to do. But that night, back at their dorm, his boyfriend told him that he and his project partner had fallen behind again on their exhibition schedule and Yeosang couldn't say anything about talking to San about their dates. It made him feel the now common pang of jealousy, but he kept his cool and told Wooyoung they could take some time to spend alone inside of the dorm in between their university assignments and both boys went to bed that night feeling defeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey and welcome to the random notes I write for you after reading the chapter.  
> Basically, this is the beginning of Wooyoung being in denial about his feelings for San, and it shouldn't last as much as it will (I wrote the next few chapters in just one sitting, so I think it all have the same emotional core to them.)  
> Also, I decided to put a bit more of Yeosang and San's pov of the situation. Hope you guys will like that.  
> See you next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some incidents make things clearer, even if you don't want to see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short and weird update, still hope you guys enjoy it.

Realizing that they had unfocused themselves again from the project made San and Wooyoung freak out a little. At least now they had a bit more time on their hands, so the Communications student didn’t move in with his partner again. Still, they went back to spending most of their free time together to work on it, which transformed the small crack on Wooyoung and Yeosang’s relationship into a rift. Except for cuddling every night, nothing else felt like they were still dating. One was stuck by the hip to San and the other started to spend more and more time studying with Jongho.

The youngest had become Yeosang’s safety island. Having a similar approach to studying had brought them together and, with time, they shared worries beyond school and university with each other. So the high schooler was the first the Psychology student had confessed his jealousy and even though the younger hadn't the best advice to give, he was a great listener and had offered to beat up San for him, which Yeosang promptly declined. In return, the older helped him not only to study but also to unwind from the stress that came with it. Yeosang had even started teaching him how to skateboard, something that the Psychological student hadn’t done in a few years. Those times helped both to take their minds off things and in a short amount of time, Jongho had become a lot less stressed and more open with the older, even sharing his less practical childhood dream of becoming a singer. It made them start to hang out on the coin noraebang around the campus and the older became the only one the other boy had ever sing in front of.

The two boys had also agreed to be on Wooyoung and San’s project after a few arguments and the pair only had Hongjoong left to convince. But the older was slippery, just like Seonghwa had complained about yet again to them during a drunken session, always being too busy to even listen to their points. So they continued planning their first draft of photos with San being the only model. They reserved one of the university's tiny studios for an afternoon and were very relieved that it had colorful lights, which was something the Photography student hadn’t been sure about. It didn’t, however, have all the shades they would need, so one of the things they could test was adding the colors on post-production.

Being so close to the other again made Wooyoung even more bothered than before. He couldn’t deny anymore that he was attracted to his friend. His eyes dropped too much on San’s thin lips and he was aware of almost every single muscle on his body just by a glance to even think about ignoring it. It also didn't help that his partner would flirt with other people in front of him and the Communications student started to want that for himself too. Not that San didn’t flirt with him, it happened like second nature to the boy, but Wooyoung wanted him to actively flirt with him, still knowing that he couldn’t do anything about it. And in a weird twist of fate, or maybe just to compensate for what was happening inside, he started to go back to his dorm every night seeking intimacy with Yeosang, only to wake up feeling guilt and shame the next morning. After a while, Wooyoung convinced himself that he could live like that. He thought he could get used to the disgust he was starting to feel for himself, if that kept his friendship with San at the same time it seemed to be slightly making things better with Yeosang. But then the afternoon in the studio came and almost put everything to waste.

“Why are you taking your shirt off?” The Communications student asked, panicking when the other pulled up the hem of his t-shirt a bit. They had been in the studio for an hour already, fixing lights and equipment around for the photos.

“To take the photos?” San answered, confused. “We agreed to try some from the shoulder line. I thought it would be better to start with those.”

“Oh, yeah, right…” The other said, diverting his eyes from his friend, hoping he couldn’t notice his warm cheeks. Wooyoung decided to focus on the camera, trying to remember the small lesson San had given him about how to use the professional equipment.

“I’m ready…” The Photography said a few minutes later, in the position they had marked before. Wooyoung turned the yellow light and took a few preliminary photos of San smiling brightly, full dimples in display. The boy came over and the other had to keep himself from staring at his broad back while he analyzed the photos in his notebook's screen. “What do you think of…” He started saying and turned to Wooyoung, finally noticing him a few steps away. “Why are you there? Come here, I need your opinion.” Sighing, the boy walked to him under his intense gaze and stopped beside him. San thought it was a good idea to break the tension and caught the other by the hip, gluing to his. It took Wooyoung a split of a second to push him away and turn his back to him, making the other very confused. He never had reacted like this to any of his touches before.

“This is wrong, San…” He said, in a small voice but his project partner still managed to listen.

“What’s wrong, Woo?” The other asked, concerned, receiving no answer. Because Wooyoung was not looking at him, San couldn’t see all of the conflicting emotions going through his face. He still walked up to him, turning him gently. “What’s wrong, Woo?” He repeated the question, patiently.

“This…” The Communications student waved his hands in front of San’s naked torso. “You’re too naked.” His response made the other laugh and Wooyoung closed up his expression. “The guys won’t take pictures like this.” He said as the excuse came out on his mind.

“Oh…” San exclaimed, vaguely, apparently thinking about the matter for the first time. “You’re right.” He grabbed his shirt back, putting back on while saving the first photos in his hard drive to analyze them better later.

“Also, I have a boyfriend…” Wooyoung said suddenly, not even realizing.

“I know, we had this conversation before.” The other responded, going back to the front of the camera.

“So this…” He made the same motion San had done before, to bring him closer. “Is also wrong.” The Photography student giggled and Wooyoung pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Did I get you turned on, Woo?” San asked, provoking him, like their usual banter. But this time, his friend put his face away blushing and it made him realize he may have gone too far. “Sorry, from now on, no more hands on you…” He apologized firmly and the other turned back to him. The boy’s expression was very serious and Wooyoung felt ashamed of himself. He knew how touching and clingy San was and that expression made clear that he had hurt his friend's feelings. But at the same time, he wasn’t so sure for how long he could keep his own hands to himself if San continued to do things like that.

The rest of the photos were taken in an awkward and tense atmosphere. The two boys kept their talks purely about the project and after a few exhausting hours, they went back to their respective dorms. In the days after, they kept their distance from each other, only emailing photos back and forth to choose the ones they would show on their second presentation. If the other boys noticed their distance, no one commented and slowly San and Wooyoung went back to their normal interactions. In a way, it was like they had decided to put the studio incident behind them without talking about it and the only noticeable difference was that, now, the Photography student was keeping his promise of not touching the other, at a bigger cost than Wooyoung could ever imagine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> I was very scared about posting this chapter, and when I realized we are halfway throughout the story, I got even more nervous. The angst is starting...  
> Anyway, the chapter is out and I hope it's okay.  
> Still, thanks to everyone who is reading. Any interaction is appreciated.  
> Also, I posted a new Ateez oneshot out of nowhere. The name is [The king's treasure](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26799139) and it's about Yeosang being a prince and meeting a pirate named Jongho because I'm Sangjong trash.  
> See you next time...
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change happens, whether you like it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, but still hoping you enjoy this chapter.

A lot of people assumed all these different things about Choi San, and to be honest, he enjoyed it. Being a mystery was fun and he liked surprising people with all of his different sides. It was like he managed to keep his number of conquest always growing, even though, contrary to popular belief he wasn't someone who would jump from bed to bed just for sex. He needed to have some sort of connection with the other person to become intimate and he usually continued being friends with the people he slept with. And flirting had brought him some of the best friends someone could have, and Wooyoung was one of them. 

Since the day his older brother had pointed to the other boy in the cafeteria, wondering how he had managed to become close to Hongjoong while he, who was literally having an affair with the Arts student couldn’t, San had become interested in him. Sure, in the beginning, it had been mostly physical. Wooyoung had a nice build, pretty eyes and plush lips and San wouldn’t say no if the other wanted him. But after finding him lost in the corridor looking for the same class he was going to, he also added adorable to his list of adjectives to describe the other and decided that maybe he wanted more to be just friends with him rather than the usual route of sleeping together to then become friends.

So becoming partners for the Photo 101 project became his opportunity to have whatever Wooyoung could give him and nothing made him happier than the panicked confession that the boy wanted to be his friend too. From there, he and the Communications student managed to create this big and loud group of friends that in almost no time felt like family to San. However, the proximity with the other boy also brought some conflicting emotions to the Photography student and for the first time in his life, he could understand Seonghwa whining about his unfortunate love life. As the weeks went by, San found himself falling in love with Wooyoung. The boy was like his personal sunshine and just by listening to his loud laugh, his day became brighter. But, unlike his friend who wore his emotions on his sleeve, San kept himself in check and not even Mingi, who had known him almost all his life, noticed him falling for the other. Sometimes his older brother could give him a knowing look, but usually, Hongjoong would do something and take his focus away.

San also worried a lot about Wooyoung’s relationship. At first, it was clear that Yeosang didn’t trust him but he liked to think they reached a silent agreement of not getting into each other’s lanes. That was why San had hesitated to ask his project partner to stay at his dorm for a week. But he couldn’t let go of that opportunity and somehow it hadn’t even gone through his head that Wooyoung could feel uncomfortable with the fact that he slept in his underwear. What was something that the boy regretted a lot after the studio incident. He had been so focused on keeping himself friendly while maintaining his clinging and flirty nature that he hadn't noticed the attraction he felt for Wooyoung could be mutual. The boy seemed so in love with his soulmate, that this possibility looked impossible for San, even though he knew he had succeeded in flustering the other a few times. The Photography student had thought it was just by how much the other liked being the center of someone's attention.

The incident had also made San realize he hadn’t been keeping himself in check as much as he would have liked. He was 100% sure Wooyoung wouldn’t have felt attracted to him if he had just tried harder in being friendly. After all, he was dating someone as handsome as Yeosang and if he was Wooyoung, he wouldn’t even look at the side if he had a soulmate like him. And that was another reason for San to stop himself. The two boys were soulmates and he didn’t like coming in between couples unless both of them wanted him, but that wasn’t the case. The couple always looked so happy together and fit so well together that San knew he wasn’t supposed to come in between them. But somehow, he had and it was hurting him as much as not being able to have Wooyoung. So he let himself become a little distant from the Communications student, letting what had happened in the studio as a reminder for him to behave better from that moment on.

The day of the second presentation came and both boys woke up late. San rushed through his morning to be there on time, mostly because the photos and the presentation were with him and he couldn’t afford to be late if his and Wooyoung’s project were the first one to be presented. The other half of the pair tried to do the same, but something kept him paralyzed while getting dressed that morning. Relieved that Yeosang had already left for class that morning, Wooyoung couldn’t believe his eyes after a glance at his right ankle, where tiny white sprouts were coming out of his usually only green-leafed Chinese chives. He sat down on the floor, with his pants only half-dressed passing his finger on it while staring, but the delicate sprouts didn’t disappear. Wooyoung tried everything to erase the little flowers blooming but nothing worked. Feeling defeated and freaked out, however, he looked up the time, and, seeing that he had become even later for class, he finished dressing up, focusing only to go through the presentation. He had time to panic afterward.

The Communications student managed to get to class just a few seconds before professor Lee, but still got scolded by San. The other’s presence only made him remember about his soulmate mark and he ended up not having such a great performance in the presentation as he had on the first time around. The professor, however, didn’t seem to notice and gave the two students the same amount of praise he had done the other time. Wooyoung felt relieved by it, but it felt short since the soulmate project came just after them and the boy didn’t know if his heart was beating so hard from the adrenaline of the crazy morning he was having or if it was because of the anxiety that the girl's presentation was giving him. Once again, the boy left his partner hanging after class. This time, however, Wooyoung went straight to Hongjoong’s classroom. He wasn’t sure why the older was the first that appeared in his mind, but it wasn’t like he could talk about it with Yeosang and, well, all the other boys were a bit closer to San than to him. He waited, sitting by the closed door of the classroom door to not let the Arts student get away from him, and, as soon as the door opened, he got up, attentive to his friend, who was the last one to leave.

“Wooyoung, what are you doing here?” He asked, worried about the other scared expression.

“Hyung, I need to show you something…” The boy said, voice pitching. Hongjoong left himself to be pulled by him until they reached a reclusive part of the parking lot. There, Wooyoung breathed deeply a few times before crouching down and raising the right leg of his pants over his ankle. At first, the Arts student didn’t understand what was going on but the younger didn’t look like he would be able to explain, so he crouched down to look at what Wooyoung was showing him.

“Is that your soulmate mark?” Hongjoong asked, carefully and the other nodded, now looking like he could start crying at any minute. The older stared at the drawing until he noticed one of the whites sprouts that were coming out of the green leaves opening a little bit more. “It’s pretty, Wooyoungie.” He continued, fondly. “The flowers are going to make it even prettier.” What he said made the opposite effect he was expecting and the younger let go of his weight, sitting down on the floor with his head down. Freaked out, Hongjoong raised the younger's head only to see the tears coming down his cheeks. “Wooyoung, tell me what’s wrong? Maybe hyung can help.”

“I fucked it up, hyung…” The younger said, between sobs. “I was so freaked out about San that it became the same.” What Wooyoung said made no sense to him, but he didn’t look like he would explain. So Hongjoong did what the only thing he could think of and hugged him, who clung to him like a child to his father after falling at the playground.

With a few words of incentive, the older managed to make Wooyoung tell him everything that was going on. He told him about his attraction to San and finding out about the similar soulmate mark they had, and how it all had made the younger start a game of push and pull of his boyfriend. The Communications student didn’t stop crying for even a second, like laying out all his pain hurt more than feeling it by himself. Hongjoong didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was probably overreacting about the whole situation but at the same time, he could understand how the younger had gotten himself in this mess. It was the same reason he didn’t date. Opening yourself to someone else meant opening yourself to heartbreak and in this day and age people didn’t have that much time to patch themselves back together. So the older consoled the younger and after calming him down, convinced the younger to talk to Yunho. The other studied magic and could give him more insight into soulmate marks than any of their other friends. That seemed to make Wooyoung a bit more alert and Hongjoong considered that a victory for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys.  
> It happened and I feel sorry for putting Wooyoung through this.  
> Still, things are going to be low for a while to be better later.  
> Anyway, thank you for reading, leaving kudos and everything.  
> I think this may be my first fic to get to 1000 hits and that wouldn't happen without every single one of you.  
> See you next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wooyoung goes after answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite sad. I hope you guys forgive me.

For a whole week, Wooyoung tried to find a good time to talk to Yunho alone. But the Magic student was always surrounded by their friends, and even when he wasn’t, Mingi wouldn’t leave his side. During that time, he tried to maintain his normal behavior around the other boys, even if it was clear that something was going on with him. He knew he was becoming quieter and more reclusive as each day passed. At the same time, everybody was drowning on exams and assignments, and they almost had no time to take care of themselves, so no one bothered the Communications student beyond an occasional question if he was okay. Not even Hongjoong, who knew what was happening could help much, overwhelmed by the sudden overload of work he started to have on his internship after his boss had found out about his hobby of reforming clothes. Apparently, that had been how he went from intern to the most prestigious editor in the fashion magazine in less than two years. 

Feeling more and more lost, Wooyoung decided to take matters into his hands and skipped class one day to go to Yunho’s university. While waiting for the train in the station closest to campus, he texted his friend to warn him that he was coming over and asking where they could meet. The Magic student replied questioning him about what was going on, but he didn't say. It took the boy around 40 minutes to get to the other’s campus and he couldn’t help himself from getting excited. He always imagined how Magical University would be like, getting a bit disappointed by the actual thing. The campus was very similar to his, with old buildings, parking lots, and people coming in and out of classes, complaining about exams and grades. The only difference was that the name of the classes sounded wild. He overheard a girl commenting with her friend that she had rushed through to an Advanced Potion’s essay and thought that this was the closest he would get from his fantasies.

The Communications student met up with Yunho by one of the entries of the main building, and even though his friend looked worried, he still welcomed him enthusiastically. They walked a bit around campus until reaching a small coffee shop where the Magic student made him promise he would never mention near Mingi. According to Yunho, it had the best chocolate latte in town and his boyfriend would feel very hurt about it. They both ended up ordering it and sitting at a table in the corner.

“Woo, if this is about San’s mark, I really didn’t find anything substantial that should make you worry about…” The friend said, half-way through his coffee. He had been wondering if that was the cause of Wooyoung’s less noisy behavior.

“Well, now it’s kind of too late for that…” The other commented and, under Yunho’s attentive gaze he just showed him his soulmate mark, that now had all of the white sprouts half-open. The Magic student had seen San’s mark too many times to understand what had happened.

“You think San is your soulmate now?” He asked, trying to keep his cool, even though inside he was freaking out as much as Wooyoung.

“I don’t know…” The Communications student replied, letting all his panic evident his voice. “I have no idea what’s going on, Yunho. One day I just woke up and it was blooming.”

“I…” The other started, very confused. “I never heard about something like this happening. I... didn't think it was possible.” He completed, looking scared just by the thought of it. “How?”

“I really don’t know…” Wooyoung wanted to start crying. Yunho had been his only hope to understand what was happening. “I just… I…” He tried to start a few times, but every sentence he thought made him panic more, losing control of his breathing. The Magic student touched his hand, trying to ground him back to the present, and slowly made the other follow his breathing pattern to calm him down. After Wooyoung managed to breathe properly, he made sure to make him drink a bit of water, but by then the boy had already started sobbing. “Did I do something wrong?” His friend shook his head to deny it, his heart breaking by the other’s state. He understood Wooyoung very well, not even wanting to think if something like this happened with him and Mingi. Yunho hugged him tightly, letting him cry on his shoulder. “Does this mean I love San?” The Communications student asked, in a very small voice and the other almost didn’t hear him.

“I seriously don’t know, Woo…” The Magic student said, in his most comforting voice. “But I’m going to find out.” He then let go of the other boy and held his face between his hands, softly. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m gonna find out why this is happening, okay?” Wooyoung nodded a bit and cleaned a few of the tears that were still falling out. “And there’s nothing wrong with you. People change and that’s normal.”

“But… Yeosang…”

“Your love for him is bigger than a drawing, isn’t it?” Wooyoung nodded again and this time was Yunho’s who cleaned his tears. “A soulmate bond is one of the most important magical bonds we have in this world, Woo, but the bond we develop with the people we love is more important. And I don’t think this is the end of your’s and Yeosang’s.”

The other nodded one more time and let himself be pampered by Yunho, who did everything he could to make Wooyoung feel better. He also opened his heart to the Magic student, just like he had done with Hongjoong, and the other could fill in the gaps in what he had already been imagining. This would also help him in his research, which he had no idea from where to start. But he couldn’t let his friend hanging, not knowing what was going on. He also asked Wooyoung to pay attention to his feelings to give him some clues to what to look for. Even though it looked very hard for the Communications student, he promised Yunho that he would talk to him about it as soon as he could figure out his own heart. In return, Wooyoung asked his friend total secrecy of what was happening, to which he complied. And not wanting to leave the other alone in that state, he skipped that afternoon classes to hang out with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys.  
> This fic is becoming an emotional rollercoaster and I hope you guys bear it with me.  
> Don't know what else I can say right now, but things will get better eventually.  
> And, thank you to everybody who has been reading this story, I still can't believe it got to 1000 hits.  
> See you next week. 
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you find what you weren't looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and enjoy this new chapter!

Wooyoung’s behavior didn’t go unnoticed by Yeosang. Everything that had happened with his soulmate in the last few weeks was unusual. From the failed dates, the time spent with only San, and his sudden increased libido were already worrying enough, but seeing him become quieter and visibly more distant and depressed everyday freaked the Psychology student out. Still, he would affirm that he was alright every time his boyfriend tried to talk to him and Yeosang didn’t know what he could do to make him open up. He also hadn’t missed that suddenly Hongjoong had become a lot more careful and soft with Wooyoung, which was very confusing for the Psychology student. The older wasn’t one to openly show affection and it was obviously bothering Seonghwa too.

“Sang-ah, why are you sitting here alone?” The Architecture student asked while sitting down at their usual table at the cafeteria.

“No one came yet…” Yeosang looked up and could see the dark circles under Seonghwa’s eyes. “Too much work?” The older turned to him, confused. “You look tired, hyung.”

“Oh…” He tried to laugh it off but a yawn came out of him, so he sighed and started to play with his food. “Maybe a little bit. Mid-semester, right?”

“Right…” The younger said, absent-minded, and turned to his food. “If you want to talk about what’s troubling you, I’m here, hyung.” He completed, cringing under his own words and missing Seonghwa’s surprised and then fond look.

“Thanks, Yeosang…” He whispered, and only received a nod in response. “You know your offer goes both ways, right?” The older asked after observing Yeosang for a few seconds. He was blushing and looking shy, but it didn’t hide his own dark circles and worried look. The Psychology student raised his head and shocked eyes met Seonghwa’s.

“I…” Yeosang didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t expecting that from the older, but he knew he had to say something. “Thank you, hyung.”

The younger’s voice came out a lot more grateful than he had anticipated and Seonghwa smiled comfortingly to him. They didn’t say anything else during lunch, both too lost in their own thoughts. But a warm feeling grew inside of them, something very close to trust, and the Psychology student went to his afternoon class surprised with himself. He wasn’t someone to trust and open up so easily, Wooyoung being the exception. Since the first moment they saw each other, Yeosang knew he could trust his soulmate. That he could open himself to the other and be heard without judgment. And, even though he wouldn't do it so often, he hadn’t been disappointed.

A sudden thought came to him during class and he went back to his dorm that night determined to talk to Wooyoung. Maybe he still wouldn’t be able to make him open up to him, but he could share his worries about the boy with him. But when he got there, his boyfriend was already tucked in bed and sleeping deeply. Yeosang sighed and went to his routine before bed, trying to ignore the hurt that had grown inside of him after seeing his boyfriend’s puffed closed eyes.

After that night, it became clear for the Psychology student that Wooyoung was avoiding him. He would leave earlier than necessary in the morning and later than usual at night. And lunch with their friends had become a very awkward moment in their days. The Communications student would stay quiet unless Hongjoong or Seonghwa were talking to him and he started to avoid sitting close to him or San. He tried to observe if the other was behaving any differently than normal, but besides giving the space Wooyoung apparently needed, nothing looked unusual with the Photography student.

And to make matters worse, Yeosang went to the coffee shop to study with Jongho on a Saturday and saw his soulmate visibly tense up when he got there. Wooyoung hadn’t slept in their dorm that night and was sitting beside Yunho at the counter, talking very silently. The taller boy greeted him excitedly, but the Psychology student didn’t miss the pitiful look he was trying to hide, while Wooyoung smiled weakly at him and turned around, looking miserable. Mingi, however, took his order loudly like nothing was out of the ordinary. Yeosang took his coffee and sat with Jongho in the corner, avoiding the younger attentive stare while he took out his studying material.

“What’s with you and Wooyoung hyung?” He asked directly, half worried, half angry. The Psychology student raised his head quickly to look at him, not sure of what he could say.

“I have no idea,” Yeosang said, resentfully and Jongho opened his mouth, but he continued. “One day he was all over me like never before and in the other, he was avoiding me like the plague.” He sighed, letting a bit of the frustration he was feeling come out. “He didn’t even sleep in the dorm last night.”

“I know.” The younger affirmed, not sure if he could say that. “We found him at the door at the shop and Mingi hyung was the one opening it up.” Yeosang looked like he wanted to ask something, so he kept on talking. “I overheard him whispering to hyung that he stayed over at Hongjoong hyung’s, but hyung wouldn’t let him alone in his apartment.”

“I see…” The older commented, not sure of why Wooyoung had turned to the Arts student and not to him.

“Do you think they are having an affair?” Jongho whispered, getting closer to him over the table making the Psychology student chuckle, thinking of how ridiculous the idea was.

“Of course not, Jongho-yah.” He answered, still laughing. “Hyung has his own stuff going in on and it has nothing to do with Woo. But maybe he is covering Woo’s affair with San…” Yeosang said, still joking around, but his own words became poison in his mind.

A bit later, Seonghwa and San came into the coffee shop and the Psychology student decided to pay attention to how Wooyoung would react to them. His soulmate greeted both with the same faint enthusiasm he had greeted him, and a shadow of hurt passed through the Photography student’s face. It didn’t last more than seconds and San started to talk loudly with Mingi and Yunho and Wooyoung sat far away from the other boys, taking his notebook out of his backpack to study by himself. His boyfriend's behavior made no sense to Yeosang and, even though his joke to Jongho couldn’t be real, it had created doubt inside of him.

After his studying session with Jongho, Yeosang went back to the quiet and peace of his dorm to finish an essay. But Wooyoung’s absence there, and in his life recently, kept going in the way of his concentration while his brain continuously brought out his own words to haunt him. He knew his soulmate would never cheat on him, but maybe something had happened between him and San. That would explain why his boyfriend would be putting distance from him. Something similar had happened when they were fourteen and Wooyoung had broken his new Gameboy and tried to avoid him because of the guilt, after all, Yeosang had saved his lunch money for six months to be able to buy it. It took him two weeks of reassurance to make the other talk to him properly but the guilty look he had on his face only went away after his boyfriend gave him a new Gameboy as a birthday present.

Since he wouldn’t be able to talk to Wooyoung now, the next best thing was talking to San. Yeosang felt very awkward texting him to ask if they could talk, and the other boy responded almost immediately saying he was in his older brother’s dorm and that he could come over. The Psychology student went up to Seonghwa’s dorm, breathing deeply. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to confront San in front of his older brother, but he knew he would lose the impulse to figure this out if he didn’t do it right away. He knocked at the older’s door and was met by a tall boy, with black hair, styled back showing an undercut, small eyes, and a pointing noise.

“Seonghwa, your friend is here…” The boy commented and left the room after bowing shyly to Yeosang. San appeared at the door, smiling and making him go in, but something about his posture made the Psychology student realize he was nervous.

“Hey, Sangie…” The older greeted him from his bed, where he had his notebook balanced over his lap with a bag of San’s favorite chip. “Sannie and I are going to watch a movie. Do you want to join us?” Yeosang stayed standing close to the door while the other closed it and went back to his brother’s bed.

“He wants to talk to me about something, hyung…” San commented, and they exchanged a knowing look.

“You can sit on Juyeon’s bed, Sang-ah,” Seonghwa said, getting up. “I’m gonna give us guys some space…”

“Actually, hyung, you can stay,” Yeosang said shyly, not wanting to make the older leave his own room because of him. “I kind of hoped your offer to talk is still up.”

“Of course, it is.” The older affirmed, fondly, and sat back with San while the Psychology student sat on the other bed. There were a few minutes of silence, but the other two boys waited patiently.

“Is…” Yeosang started, already feeling defeated. The only thing he had the courage to say had nothing to do with what he came to talk about. “That guy is your roommate, hyung?”

“Yeah…” Seonghwa answered, chuckling. “Juyeon is my age and is studying Law. We’ve been rooming together since last year and he is nice and organized.” Then he glanced at his brother quickly before continuing. “He just feels uncomfortable when San comes over. With the flirting and all.” San rolled his eyes but Yeosang could only give them a yellow smile. A few more minutes of silence happened until someone could say anything.

“You want to talk about Wooyoung, right?” The Photography student said suddenly and the already awkward atmosphere became tense. The other boy only nodded and the two brothers exchanged a new look.

“I don’t want to accuse you of anything, San. But…” Yeosang raised his head and stared at the other. “Something must have happened between you two.” A serious expression came over both of their faces. “Woo has been all over the place since he stayed in your dorm. And don’t know what to do anymore.” He admitted, even though he didn’t want to.

“I…” San started, and then looked at his brother, who gave him an assuring look. “I’m not sure of what happened. He seemed alright with me until the day in the studio.” The Psychology student looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” Yeosang asked him and it was the time San looked at him confused.

“Wooyoung hasn’t told you?” Seonghwa asked and the boy denied. It made the older turn to his younger brother and he could see their alarmed exchange.

“I don’t know if I should tell you if he didn’t, but…” The Photography student started, breathing deeply to gather courage. “He was all panicky when we took the photos for the first draft of the exhibition. And…” The boy’s expression fell down. “I think I made him uncomfortable with a joke.” Nervously, San scratched his head before continuing. “He put a limit on what we could joke about and I thought things would go back to normal after a few days.” He sighed and Yeosang saw Seonghwa comforting hand over his brother’s shoulder. “It looked like it had until our second presentation. He came in late and looked so out of it. Like he had seen a ghost. And then disappeared after class.” San gave the Psychology student a sad smile. “After that, he has been keeping his distance from me when we are with the group and avoiding being alone with me.”

Yeosang took a few minutes to absorb everything San had told him and neither of the other two forced him to say anything until he was ready. Whatever joke San had made would have to be something very personal for his soulmate to react like that. But it made the Psychology student feel relieved. At least it wasn’t anything like his imagination kept on feeding him during the afternoon. And it also made clear that whatever was going on with his boyfriend wasn’t mainly caused by anyone else. It was something internal, which only made his job of helping him out a lot more difficult.

“Did he…” He started saying suddenly after an idea came to his head and both boys turned to him, curious. “Has Wooyoung ever showed you his mark?” Both brothers denied and Yeosang fell into thought.

“Why?” Seonghwa asked him, confused.

“He had a small freak out about it a few weeks ago…” Yeosang answered before realizing. “Our mark is very similar to San’s.”

“Really?” The Photography student wondered and the other thought it was only fair if he showed them. So he raised the leg of his pants, making his Chinese chives apparent. Both boys came closer and the oldest gasped after seeing it.

“Sannie…” He turned to his younger brother, who looked almost lost.

“It’s on such a visible place…” The other started, sitting beside Yeosang on the bed while he lowered the leg of his pants. “How did I never see it?”

“We don’t wear a lot of shorts…” The Psychology student laughed a bit, before becoming serious again. “Are you bothered by it?”

“No…” San turned to him, a sudden happy smile on his lips. “It’s just… I never met anyone who had such a similar mark as mine. Even if it’s not the same.” He then hugged Yeosang tightly. “I was starting to think I never would.” Shocked, the other turned to Seonghwa, who had a fond smile on his lips while crouching in front of them and putting an affectionate hand on his younger brother’s knee. 

“It wasn’t something that we were encouraged to think about as children.” Seonghwa then looked seriously at Yeosang’s eyes. “Our parents aren’t soulmates and met after I was already born.” He sighed and San turned only his head to him, still clinging to Yeosang. “My mom had just divorced my biological father when she met San’s dad. I was around three and they bonded over having failed soulmate marriages. A year later they were getting married and I ended up with the cutest younger brother someone could have.”

“And you are the nicest older brother someone could have, hyung,” San whispered and they smiled fondly at each other, so different from the usual bicker they played with around other people.

“So our parents always made sure to teach us that meeting your soulmate wouldn’t solve all of our problems in the world. But after Mingi met Yunho, Sannie started to wonder about his soulmate. Their bond made him a bit jealous...” 

“No, it didn’t…” The Photography student pouted and the older laughed.

“Right? You didn’t dislike Yunho when you met him just because, and I’m quoting him when I say this...” Seonghwa smirked while his younger brother thighed his hug around the Psychology student. “Mingi got delusional over a drawing,” San grumbled but didn’t say anything while his older brother laughed. “Two days later, he had already become friends with Yunho.”

“It’s kind of impossible not falling over his puppy aesthetic.” He commented and Yeosang nodded, agreeing.

“After a while, he started to come to me from time to time and talk about how incredible it would be to have someone who understood him as Mingi and Yunho did.” The older then squeezed his brother’s knee. “In a way, I think it made him become the sex machine he is nowadays.” San rolled his eyes. “He started to flirt around high school to find someone like that.”

“So, you are looking for your soulmate?” Yeosang asked him, turning to stare at the other’s black hair.

“Not necessarily…” The Photography student commented, raising his head and staring into the other’s eyes. “Just someone that could understand me like that. It doesn't even need to be in a romantic way…”

“I think I understand…” The other said, finally relaxing under San’s embrace, what only made him find a better position to cuddle with the Psychology student. “My parents were also soulmates and divorced just before I started middle school. We ended up moving and she never put a lot of incentive over me to find mine. She got very surprised when Woo blabbered it out about us one day when he was having dinner with us. After he left, she gave me a huge lecture about how relationships are bigger than magical bonds, saying that they take a lot of hard work, and even like that, sometimes things just don’t work it out.” Yeosang wasn't sure why he told the other two boys about something only Wooyoung knew about but still welcomed Seonghwa’s addition to his hug with San. Somehow it was nice meeting people who had gone through similar stuff to him. “I think you found that someone, San…” The Photography student turned to him. “I’ve never seen someone so similar to Woo besides you.”

San blushed and turned away, clinging more to the other boys again. He hoped his heartbeat wouldn’t betray him and that he could hide the guilt he was now feeling from Yeosang. After they had both opened up so much in that conversation, he didn’t know what he would do to himself if he hurt the other. Still, he had no courage in himself to admit the one thing he kept from his friend that day, even though it was the most important. He did want a romantic relationship with Wooyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys  
> I'm sorry if the chapter came out a bit later this week, but I have been very blocked on it. Not sure why.  
> Anyway, this chapter is mostly focused on Yeosang and I hope you guys liked it.  
> Thank you for all the kudos, comments, and hits. I really appreciate it.  
> 'Till next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New developments are always happenings in life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and very sorry for not updating last week. Anyway, enjoy it!

Even though talking with San had gone a lot differently than Yeosang imagined, he felt like they finally had become friends. The same trust he had felt before with Seonghwa grew inside of him during that night and he could understand the other a lot better because of it. However, he knew the Photography student was hiding something about Wooyoung, but instead of making the now normal usual jealousy appear, it made him aware that the boy was going through something similar to him. His boyfriend was leaving both of them in the dark.

That night, he again found Wooyoung already asleep in his bed when he came back to the dorm. And the next morning the boy left very early saying he was going to the library, even though he hated the place. Defeated and not wanting to be alone, Yeosang took his studying materials to the coffee shop hoping Jongho was there. He wasn’t, even though Yunho and Mingi were. He sat with the Magic student and asked about his younger brother, who said their mother had forced the high school student to go shopping with her.

“Bet he hated that…” The Psychology student commented.

“He hates doing anything he doesn't want to, so our mom is used to it.” Yunho laughed a bit, not missing the weak smile Yeosang gave his joke. “You okay, Sangie?” He asked, carefully, knowing very well he wasn’t. He had insisted with Wooyoung to talk about what was going on with his soulmate, only to watch the Communications student grow apart from him as the days passed.

“Yeah…” He said but Yunho's pitiful expression made him let go of attempting to pretend everything was fine. “No. Woo is avoiding me.”

“He is?” Mingi asked from behind the counter and his boyfriend face palmed himself.

“You didn’t notice?” Yeosang asked him and the barista only shrugged.

“Mingi isn’t very aware of stuff around him,” Yunho told him after his soulmate went away to take a client’s order.

“So everybody knew except for him…” The Psychology student hid his face with both of his hands.

“There is Hongjoong hyung?!” The other said, hopefully.

“He knows something is happening if Woo stayed in his apartment…” Yeosang lowered his hands, feeling defeated again.

“Sorry, Sangie…” The Magic student touched his shoulder, comforting. “But things are gonna be better soon.” He tried to give him a smile too, but he remembered the first's results of his research and just couldn’t.

“Thanks, Yunho. But I don’t know about that.” He sighed before continuing, not sure of how much he could share with him. “I just want him to talk to me.”

“I know…” Yunho whispered back. “But he is scared and confused. Try to give him some time to figure himself out.”

“You’re right…” Yeosang started, but interrupted himself. “Did he talk to you?” He asked, trying to sound level headed, but both boys could notice his betrayed tone in the question.

“I’m sorry, Sang....” The other apologized, embarrassed. “He asked my help for something and kind of had to explain himself for that.”

“It’s okay…” He said, resigned. “At least he talked to someone. I was worried he was going through whatever this is completely by himself.” Yunho gave him a guilty smile. “Can you just give me a hint?” Yeosang asked, hopeful.

“Can’t, sorry.” The Magic student’s answer sounded hurt, making the other aware of his tied hands. “Woo asked me for a secret. Not even Mingi knows about it.”

The Psychology student nodded and left the coffee shop not long after that. He didn’t have the focus to study anymore, so he went back to his dorm, left his backpack behind, and got his skateboard, going to one of the empty corners of the campus to skate throughout the rest of the morning. At that point, it was the only thing that could take Yeosang’s mind out of things.

And there he was exactly where Jongho found him around lunchtime. He had gone to the coffee shop after helping his mother and Yunho told him about the talk they had. The high school student decided to go after him, being the only one who would probably know about his usual skateboard spot. The younger had brought a few drug kimbap rolls and made Yeosang sit at a stairway to eat with him.

“Do you want me to beat up Wooyoung hyung?” Jongho asked, halfway through his first kimbap.

“You and beating people up…” Yeosang laughed, making the younger satisfied. They both knew he wasn’t going to beat anyone up. “Haven’t I told you that’s just pent up stress?”

“Just every time we hangout…” The younger gave him a gummy smile, that would always make Yeosang think about how cute Jongho could be, almost like a teddy bear. “But seriously, hyung, do you want me to talk to Wooyoung hyung? I can’t take you being miserable about him anymore.”

“What would tell him?” The Psychology student indulged in his sudden curiosity. Jongho had never talked with him like that and it made him wonder what he meant.

“Just that he needs to stop hurting my favorite hyung…” The younger commented, nonchalantly and went back to eating, leaving Yeosang struck. He turned to Jongho, trying to figure out if what he said had any second meaning, but the boy didn’t seem phased or worried about what it.

“Thanks, Jong-ah…” The older whispered. “But there is no need. He will talk to me when he is ready.

“And you are going to continue beating yourself over what went wrong until hyung does that?” Jongho retorted, looking a bit annoyed.

“That’s how relationships work…” Yeosang commented, going back to his own kimbap.

“No, it isn’t and you know that, hyung.” He said, now completely angry and the older shook his head.

“I know we think that things shouldn’t be like this, Jongho.” The Psychology student answered seriously, making the younger sigh. “But no one would be ever together if they didn’t exercise their patience.” He looked at the high school student, who was staring at an empty spot in the ground in front of him. “And some things take time and effort to be talked about.”

“You’re too nice, hyung…” Jongho whispered. “I would never do this to you.”

Both boys tensed up from what the younger had said and finished eating silence. The sudden change in the atmosphere was something that never had happened between them and both had no idea how to deal with it. Their friendship was based on comfortable silences and understanding conversations, so the awkwardness was unbearable for them. The high school student, then, asked Yeosang if he wanted to go to the norebang with him, to which he promptly agreed. Watching Jongho sing was always a privilege and would still take his head out of his problems with Wooyoung. But during that particular afternoon, the younger had decided to sing too many sad ballads and it made him wonder if maybe the younger had developed a crush on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm back.  
> I felt bad for not updating last week, but I wasn't in a very great place mentally and seriously blocked in this fic. In the last month, I managed to write a lot of other stuff, but for some reason, this story wasn't coming out.  
> This chapter has been written bit by bit for a long time and it kind of became a giant monster with a life of its own, so I decided to divide it into two parts. So don't worry about this short almost filler chapter.  
> Also, thinking about everything that is going to happen, I decided to change the number of chapters, so you guys got a bit more to expect from it.  
> Still, thank you to everybody who read it and left kudos and comments since the last update. You guys gave a lot of motivation because of it.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the studio to change it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot is going on here. I hope it's okay.

Wooyoung was very aware of what he was doing to his soulmate, even if it didn’t look like it. He knew how much Yeosang worried about him daily and how responsible he felt about his well-being and their relationship. He knew that he was hurting and it only made his shame and guilt grow. The Communications student couldn't even look at his boyfriend's face without feeling like the worst person on the planet. What he wasn't aware of, however, was how much he was also hurting San in the process. The other boy was harder to read, but somehow he still knew his friend wasn't okay.

Besides that, he also kept thinking about how he would go crazy while waiting for Yunho's research. Wooyoung wasn't a very patient person, to begin with, and waiting for anything made his mood go down. But the Magic student had also asked him to look over his feelings for San, what was exactly what he had been avoiding for months. He didn't want to face the fact he had fallen in love with his project partner. While still being in love with his soulmate.

In a way, it was all very confusing for him. He wanted to kiss both, to be around both, be intimate with both. He wanted the quiet nights observing Yeosang studying, with his focused look on too many books at the same time. But he also wanted the loud afternoons listening and dancing to random music with San in his dorm, moving in sync without any care in the world. He wanted what he already knew and was used to, while also wanting something new and fresh.

And at the same time, it wasn't confusing at all. It made sense in his brain. It made sense wanting the balance Yeosang gave him while also wanting the complement San could give him. But, even in those moments, it just made him feel awful. Wooyoung just kept thinking that he was betraying Yeosang and their soulmate bond by also wanting to be with San. That he was being greedy by wanting both and dreaded himself so much that the feeling had become a common sensation on his gut, growing as fast as the blooming flowers on his soulmate mark.

So he started staying more and more with Hongjoong and avoiding anyone that wasn't him or Yunho, grateful enough that both of them could be by his side during this mess, even if it was one that he had put himself through. Both tried to convince him to, at least, tell Yeosang what was happening, but he was so scared of what his boyfriend could say, that he justified himself by wanting to make sure that the change going on inside of him didn't mean what he was afraid of. And that this yearning for San would be just a phase.

Like this, the day San and Wooyoung had scheduled to take the final photos for their project came and the Communications student woke up on Hongjoong's sofa already freaking out. They had been working on the project only by email and he could see how much it was suffering from that, mostly from the miscommunications they kept having while writing to each other. The Photography student was pushing him into explaining himself or to go back to their normal, but Wooyoung always felt pointed out by the formal tone those emails had. Still, being around San made him feel as bad as being around Yeosang, so he couldn't afford that at the moment. And thinking that on that day, he had to be around both made his stomach turn. The younger almost didn’t eat the breakfast Hongjoong had prepared, only forcing a bit of fried egg in because of the older’s nagging. Wooyoung left, a few hours before the older had to be there even though he really wanted Hongjoong to go with him, just so that he wouldn’t be alone with San. But the Arts student had an essay to finish and kept saying that he was only posing for the project to help Wooyoung’s mood get a bit better.

The Communications student got to the university’s studio San had reserved for them before his partner, and, as he didn’t have any equipment with him or the keys, he sat by the door to wait. Being alone with his thoughts during the fifteen minutes he waited for his partner was like torture. His brain tried to anticipate everything that could happen during the photo shoot and seeing his friend crossing the corridor with his older brother made him feel a few seconds of relief. But seeing San suddenly so close to him, after all those times he had purposely ignored him, made his heartache. So he focused on Seonghwa’s presence, carrying part of the equipment like he was an oasis in the middle of the desert.

“Hyung!” Wooyoung exclaimed, excitedly, getting up and taking the pile of colorful lighting gels the older was carrying, ignoring San completely. The older turned quickly to his brother, who was busy opening the studio and could see the hurt in his face. Not wanting to comment on it, he turned back to the other boy, who was now giving him a pleading look. Sighing, he let the Communications student take the equipment from him.

“You know he is hurt, right?” Seonghwa whispered, taking Wooyoung by surprise. He lowered his head ashamed, making the older pity him. Even if his brother was hurting because of him, the other boy was still his friend. “Yeosang, too.” The Communications student’s eyes widened in shock but didn’t raise his head.

“Why are you telling me this, hyung?” He whispered back, torn between sadness and anger. “To make me feel worse?”

“Of course not, Wooyoungie…” The older’s tone got softer and he put a hand on his shoulder. “I just wanted to make sure you knew.” The boy raised his head and Seonghwa could see the tears in his eyes. “So that you can try to make up to them soon…” The Architecture student gave him a small smile, not sure if he was helping or not.

“Are you two going to stay there? I need the equipment…” San’s voice caught up to them from the door, and even though it had his usual bickering tone, it was a lot weaker. Seonghwa nodded to Wooyoung, who sniffed and went inside the studio behind the older.

They put the equipment up mostly in silence and Wooyoung kept his distance from both brothers. He could sometimes hear them whispering between themselves but tried to tune it out as much as he could. It had already been bad enough Seonghwa had pointed his finger at him earlier, he didn’t need to try to guess what they were saying about him.

Fortunately, Yunho and Mingi got to the studio just as they were finishing and dissolved a bit of the tense atmosphere. The Economics student hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary with his friends and acted normally while his boyfriend tried to stop him, knowing very well that it was better leaving the two project partners alone.

“Jongho didn’t come with you two?” San asked Yunho while Mingi bothered Wooyoung.

“He did, but went to meet up with Yeosang.” The Photography student gave his friend an inquisitive look. “Something about not wanting Sangie to face this alone.” Yunho pointed discreetly towards the other boys since Seonghwa had gone to the other two to stop the Economics student singing loudly in his ear.

“That’s why I asked hyung to help me with the equipment…” He commented in a low voice.

“I’m sorry, Sannie…” Yunho said, hugging him from the side.

“Yah, Choi San, find someone else to cling to…” Mingi screamed from the other side of the studio, making everybody else pay attention to them. San and Wooyoung’s eyes met and they quickly turned away, embarrassed. Yunho went over to his boyfriend to scold him while Seonghwa tried to stop Wooyoung from leaving the studio.

“It’s okay, hyung…” The Communications student said, in a sad tone. “I’m just gonna go to buy some coffee. Do you want something?” He asked, avoiding the older’s pitiful look. Not sure if it was the best move, he asked Wooyoung to buy him a strawberry smoothie and an iced americano for his younger brother. The boy also asked the couple if they wanted anything and took their orders, relieved he didn’t have to ask San too.

Wooyoung didn’t know why he had looked at San right at that moment. It had made him miss the Photography student so much more, even though he was at the reach of his hand. But he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t reach out to San. Not without knowing if the boy was his new soulmate or not. Not while he hadn't figured out his situation with Yeosang. Sighing, he got to the campus coffee shop and bought the group’s drinks trying to empty all the thoughts of his brain.

When he got back, he distributed the drinks and didn’t miss the sorrowful look Mingi gave him. Apparently, the other boys had explained to him what was going on. The Communications student sighed again and went to fix the lights since they also had convinced Mingi to go first, to avoid another awkward moment, and t hat was Wooyoung's main job of that day. Since they had to test the boys for different emotions and each emotion had a color, the Communications student had been put in charge of the lights and gels, changing them when necessary, while San took the photos. 

The Photography student positioned Mingi and explained the basic pose they had chosen from the preliminary photoshoot before taking the first shots. The five boys, then, crowded in front of San’s notebook screen and the project partners exchanged their first words in a while. It was awkward and tense, but they managed to agree on each emotion Mingi would portray.

Without any more talk, the boys went back to their positions. Wooyoung put the yellow gel in front of the main light while San adjusted the camera. Mingi was put in front of the equipment again and the other two boys just observed them work carefully. It was amazing how the two partners worked perfectly together, even when just barely talking to each other. It gave Yunho another perspective on their relationship and made Seonghwa even more worried about them. Mingi, however, was smiling just like San had instructed him. He was supposed to express pure joy and for him, that would never be difficult. He had to just look at Yunho.

The Magic student, after getting tired of observing, got closer to Wooyoung. At first, he wasn’t sure if he should talk to him or not, worried he would distract him from his work. But then he turned around, facing him, expression half confused half anxious and he couldn’t help himself.

“I think I’m close…” Yunho commented, whispering. “I just need to check a few more things and…”

“Are you serious?” Wooyoung asked, a bit louder than he should, and got a mysterious look from San behind the camera.

“Yeah…” The other said, embarrassed. “Probably next week I can show you something.”

“Yunho!” The Communications student exclaimed, taking care to whisper too. “I… don’t know what to say.” He made a small pause, too many thoughts and emotions going on inside of him. “Thank you.” His voice was full of emotion and Yunho became shy.

“It’s nothing…” He felt himself blushing. “Really. I would do anything to help any of my friends.”

“Still…”

“Yunho, your time…” San called, interrupting what Wooyoung was going to say. He gave the other a small smile and went to the front of the camera. The boy changed the lights and watched the Magic student posing, sure of what emotion he should portray and  didn’t even have to argue with the Photography student about it, since he also thought Yunho would be perfect for trust. Wooyoung went back to the lights, made them shine a light green atmosphere over the model, and watched San direct him into making a neutral but nice facial expression. It fitted the Magic student perfectly and it reminded the boy of the afternoon he had comforted him. Somehow, it was the same expression Yunho would constantly look at him since that day.

Seonghwa, however, continued to observe them in silence, only responding to San from the front of the notebook when he was asked about the photos. Mingi was sitting beside him, shouting words of encouragement to his boyfriend, which would make both the photographer and the model lose a bit of their concentration and laugh. None of them noticed when Jongho and Yeosang came in together, except for Wooyoung. He had turned to the door and watched them silently, starting to feel scared again.

The brief relief from Yunho saying he was finishing his research was turned over into worry and fear by what it would say. Looking at Yeosang, who seemed a bit lost but hanging on, was a reminder of all his inner conflict and he couldn’t help but look at San too. His heart was racing in his chest and suddenly their eyes met again. Wooyoung felt like time had stopped and he could read perfectly all the questions that look was asking him. He only had the courage to answer the first.

“I can go next…” He said loudly, trying to hide the panic in his voice and the Photography student seemed confused by it. He then turned around and saw the two boys that had come in talking to Seonghwa and understood. He finished taking Yunho’s photos and waited for Wooyoung to take his place in front of the camera looking over the photos he had already taken that morning.

As soon as his partner sat in front of the camera, it was clear he would only be able to portray fear. Still, San tried to direct him into other emotions but it was obvious that Wooyoung was scared. So, without even looking at his preview photos, he went over the lights and turned them into dark green. The Communications student had gone up to do his work, but as soon as he noticed the color, he sat back down, ashamed. Of course, San would be able to read him like that.

Taking Wooyoung’s photos made the Photography student’s heart sink. He had already noticed the scared looks Wooyoung gave once in a while, but he didn’t want to believe what it's obviously meant. But there, behind the camera, examining his expression so freely and attentive, it made him sure. The Communications student was scared of him.

All of the other boys watched tensely while San took Wooyoung’s photos, including Hongjoong, who had just gotten there. It was awkward but somewhat intimate and one by one the boys turned away. Only Yeosang couldn’t. It was the first time he had seen Wooyoung look at San in a while, seeing the fear clearly. But he could also see something else on his soulmate's face. Something he had only ever seen in him while looking at himself. The Psychology student tensed up, making sense of it, and Jongho, who was glued to his side, noticed.

“Hyung…” He called lightly and Yeosang turned to him, looking sad. “What happened?” The older boy didn’t answer, only going back to watch San and Wooyoung. Something inside of the younger bubbled and he took the other by the hand to a corner of the studio, away from everybody else.

“Jongho…” The Psychology student tried to scold him, but the determined look on his face made him stop.

“Hyung, I’m tired.” The boy said, out of nowhere.

“Tired?” It was all Yeosang could say, confused. "Of what?" The younger rolled his eyes, getting annoyed.

“Of seeing you suffering because of Wooyoung hyung.” The older opened his mouth, but Jongho didn’t let him continue. “I know you two are soulmates and all, but…” He hesitated and suddenly Yeosang could see how vulnerable the whole situation was. They were surrounded by all their friends and the younger again had that tone he had in the last morning he had skateboarded. “You have other options, okay?” The Psychology student’s brain went into overdrive, not believing his ears.

“Jongho, what do you mean?” He asked, dumbly and the younger gave him his gummy smile, making his heart pick up its pace.

“I mean that you don’t need to stay with Wooyoung hyung if it makes you sad and hurt like this.” Jongho suddenly looked embarrassed and scratched his head. “I like you, hyung. And I could take care of you a lot better than hyung.” Yeosang didn’t know what to say while looking at the high school student’s face.

“Okay, who is next?” San asked from behind the camera.

“It should be Yeosang…” Mingi said, pointing to him from the other side of the studio. “You guys have surprise, right? He is already like that!” The Economic student laughed and everybody else turned to the boy, who just nodded. He needed to get away from Jongho and what he had just said.

The younger gave him space and went back to the rest of the group, wondering if he had fucked up with Yeosang. He didn’t know what had come over him to spill his feeling like that, but he hadn’t lied. He was so tired of watching the Psychology student suffering because of his soulmate that i t had also been exactly because of that he had noticed his feelings for Yeosang. After getting closer to the older, he had quickly realized how soft he felt towards him. Even though the Psychology student was older than him, he wanted to take care of him and make him smile. With time, he became aware of how pretty and attractive Yeosang was, with his strong and squared features, but it was only after the other had started sharing his relationships problems with him that Jongho understood how deep his feelings for the older actually were.

And still, he couldn’t stop to think how cute he looked with wild eyes and dropped mouth under a light blue light from the pure shock of his confession. The same thought went over Wooyoung’s head, but he felt like he didn’t have the right to think like that anymore. Not after everything he had put Yeosang through lately. He then turned around and saw the soft look their youngest friend was giving his boyfriend and got curious about what Jongho had told him to make him so surprised.

After finishing taking Yeosang’s photos, San looked around already feeling exhausted. The morning had barely become noon and all he wanted to do was to lay down on his bed and not get up for another day. But there was still a lot of work to be done and that meant a few more hours crumped out inside of the studio trying to keep his cool around Wooyoung. So he called for a break, relieved that his project partner offered to leave to fetch lunch for them, allowing him to have time to breathe properly again.

The Photography student had thought before that things would be awkward and tense while working again in person with the other boy, but the scared expression Wooyoung had portrayed on his photos was haunting him. He remembered while sitting down alone in one corner of the studio, the camera still in his hand, the last time they had been there and everything that hadn't happened between them since, only coming to one conclusion. Wooyoung had read through him and seen his feelings. He had seen all the love and longing San had tried his best to hide. And being the nice guy he was, had been keeping his distance to warn him, scared that words would hurt him more than actions.

San, though, wasn’t sure if the silent treatment was better than being outright rejected, so he did the only thing he could at that time and started to look at pictures in the camera to distract himself from his thoughts, not noticing the still shocked and seemingly lost Yeosang sitting by his side. The Psychology student tried to be around his group friend after taking his photos, but the proximity with Jongho was too much for him. He found San sitting by himself, looking very focused on the camera, and decided that was the best place for him too. Neither had said one word, completely lost in thoughts, even after San had noticed the other boy beside him after he finished going through the photos.

“Fuck, hyung is coming…” The Photography student thought out loud after seeing his brother coming towards his direction and Yeosang turned to him.

“You don’t want to talk to him?” The other asked, curious, finally losing a bit of his shocked expression. San only nodded in response. “Why not?”

“Because…” He started sighing and then pouting. “He is going to ask me if I’m okay and I’m not, so I’m gonna just say everything that is wrong and I don’t have the energy to do that right now.” Yeosang gave him a little understanding smile.

“Well, if this distracts you and makes hyung not come here…” The boy made a small pause, suddenly feeling shy under San’s curious look. “Jongho confessed to me. That’s why I was so surprised…”

“What?” San asked, completely wild and turning around to face Yeosang. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Seonghwa reading the change in his posture and going back to their other friends. “What do you mean with confessed?”

“He said he likes me…” The Psychology student debated if he should say the rest of what their youngest friend had said, but decided it was better not to mention Wooyoung.

“He likes you?” The other exclaimed again, as shocked as Yeosang had been after his talk with Jongho. The boy only nodded and they felt in silence again.

At the same moment, Wooyoung came back with the boy’s lunchboxes and started to distribute them to the group around the notebook. Mingi, Yunho, and Hongjoong were talking about something he didn't care about, and both Seonghwa and Jongho were observing the other two boys sitting far away from them. The Communications student turned to them, cursing the world for making the two people he didn’t want to be around being together. Still, they were probably as hungry as the rest of them, so he sucked up and went to them.

“But what about…” San started after a while, still surprised.

“Wooyoung!” Yeosang completed, but his tone was surprised by seeing his soulmate stop in front of them.

“Well, yeah… Isn’t he worried about him?” The other asked, not noticing the newcomer.

“No, San, he is here.” The Psychology student whispered and turned San’s face in Wooyoung’s direction. The boy lowered the bag with the last two lunchboxes in front of them and turned around to leave without saying anything. But the question he had heard made him so confused and angry, that he turned back.

“When did you two become close?” His voice came out demanding even though he knew he had no right to act like that with neither of them. Still, he couldn’t stop himself, the mere thought of San and Yeosang talking about him behind his back made his blood boil, even if he knew they were 100% justified in doing so. Both boys looked up to him, surprised, and Wooyoung crossed his arms in front of his chest, waiting. His posture made his boyfriend annoyed and he got up to stand on the same ground as the other.

“Oh, now you care?” Yeosang’s voice came out cold. “The first six words you say to me in all this time that isn’t about your daily schedule are those? After ignoring my whole existence?” The Psychology student asked, furious, and Wooyoung deflated right in front of him. His boyfriend was right, he couldn’t demand anything from him, and all his shame came back, making him feel completely overwhelmed. Wooyoung left the other two boys, going to eat alone at the opposite corner of the studio, and Yeosang sunk back San’s side, buzzing from anger and regret. He, better than anyone else, knew how defensive Wooyoung could be when something surprised him.

“What was that?” The Photography student asked him, again shocked, but this time, his eyes were at the other side of the studio, falling on the other boy, who was visibly sulking and ashamed of what he had done.

“I don’t know…” Yeosang admitted. “I think something that Jongho said rubbed me in the wrong way.”

San turned over to him and saw the boy mirroring his boyfriend’s regretting face. The distance and hurt between them were so contrasting to the happy and close couple he had met at the beginning of the semester that he couldn’t help blaming himself for it. He hugged Yeosang, bringing him closer, wanting to hide his sadness and guilt from everybody else.

The other boys had watched the whole scene in silence and didn’t comment after it was over, each one keeping their reactions to themselves. After a few minutes, Yunho got up from his seat and went over to Wooyoung, to try to comfort him, ignoring Mingi’s complaints and questions. At the same time, Seonghwa went over to the other two boys to see how they were hanging on and Jongho and Hongjoong exchanged looks. The youngest was absolutely furious by how Wooyoung had treated Yeosang and he found a similar reaction in the older’s eyes.

The lunch break ended like that and San decided to immerse himself back into work to avoid the situation. He set the dark blue lights by himself and, not sure how he would feel or act having Wooyoung behind the camera, he took his photos by himself. Seonghwa kept a close look at him, worried about the sad look he had on his face that wasn't just for the project but didn’t offer to help. He knew his younger brother didn’t want him prying on such a vulnerable moment for him.

After a while, Jongho went to where Yeosang was still sitting down and didn’t say anything, not sure how the older would react to his presence there. The Psychology student tensed up a bit but felt grateful by the steady and quiet comfort the younger was giving him. At the same time, Mingi got up and demanded Yunho’s attention back, to which Wooyoung forced the Magic student to go back with his soulmate. It was enough that one soulmate couple was falling apart, they didn’t need another one doing the same.

They coming back made Hongjoong go sit with Wooyoung. He didn't want to stay around to see Yunho trying to scold the Economics student while he pouted and clung to him, and in a way, he also wanted to comfort the boy. But the boy's behavior earlier finished off his patience so, at first, he didn’t say anything and just sat there, tense and annoyed.

“Hyung…” The younger called out and the Arts student turned to him, meeting his eyes.

“That was fucked up, Woo.” He said, without any sugar-coating the situation. “I know you going through some stuff, but you can’t keep on treating Yeosang like that.”

“I know, hyung…” The boy visibly shrinked, hugging himself.

“Do you, now?” Hongjoong scolded, making Wooyoung turn to him with widened eyes. “Do you really know that? Or do you think that just because Yeosang is calm and patient, he has to accept anything you give him? Because he is quiet and flexible he needs to fit and adapt to you? Well, it doesn't.” The younger didn’t answer but the effects of his words were clear, making him on the verge of tears.

“I don’t know what to do, hyung…”

“Of course you do, Wooyoung.” The older ignored the pang of hurt in his chest from the Communications student's miserable tone. “You need to figure your shit out and talk to Yeosang about it.”

Hongjoong got up and left Wooyoung alone, mostly to let him absorb his words properly. He didn’t want to be so harsh with the younger, but tough love was the only way he knew to try to help. Without noticing, he went to stand beside Seonghwa close to the camera and got a small smile from him. He nodded awkwardly to the other, suddenly feeling his own words coming back to bite him on the ass.

Not wanting to dwell too much on his own feelings, Hongjoong offered to be the next model and while the Photography student took his preview photos, Wooyoung came back to the lights. He looked absolutely devastated but strong enough to do his part of the work. The discussion for which of the emotions left the Arts student should portray was done between San and Seonghwa and the other boy only got the signal to change the lights to purple.

While being in front of the camera, Hongjoong couldn’t help but look at the Architecture student’s face. It made him think about his own relationship with Seonghwa and how some of the words he had said to Wooyoung could be applied to himself. Wasn’t he doing the same? Wasn’t he so scared of opening himself to anyone that he put someone that obviously cared about him into a seemingly meaningless relationship? He felt a pang of disgust for himself in his gut.

“That’s the emotion, hyung,” San told him with a strangled smile and he sighed, uncomfortable.

“Jongho…” Yeosang called, while he and the younger watched Hongjoong modeling.

“You don’t need to say anything now, hyung.” The high school student said, trying to keep his cool in such an awkward situation. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Jongho, I can’t…”

“Hyung!” He cut, annoyed by the obvious apologetic tone the Psychology student had. “I already told you don’t have to say anything right now. I was, and still am, pissed off because Wooyoung hyung doesn’t appreciate you in the way I could and you keep on giving excuses for him while all I want is to show you how special and amazing I think you are!” Jongho’s words came out in a rush and he got up to take Hongjoong’s place in front of the camera after he was finished, without even being called. Still, they were very clear on Yeosang’s ears and he resigned himself to acknowledge them.

As soon as Jongho sat in front of the camera, he turned to Wooyoung, staring right into the older’s eyes, defiant. It somewhat scared the Communications student and without thinking much, he changed the lights to red. San seemed to catch on the mood of the situation and started to take photos of the youngest rage. From behind the notebook, Yunho sighed, well aware of what was happening. Even without Jongho telling about his feelings for Yeosang, they were clear as water for him. 

Hongjoong, then, not sure of what to do to himself after taking his photos, sat with Yeosang. He didn’t want to be around the happy couple and was starting to feel remorse for his words to Wooyoung. The Arts student had no right to point his finger at the younger when he was doing the same with Seonghwa, with who he also didn’t want to be around at that moment, and the boy was glued to his younger brother’s side.  The Psychology student didn’t notice him at first, only doing so after the older laid his head on his shoulder. Neither commented on the sudden touch, but Yeosang relaxed after a few seconds. Hongjoong was one of the people he trusted the most in the world just for having lowered both of their walls because of Wooyoung.

“Problems, hyung?” He asked, whispering and the Arts student nodded, head still on his shoulder. “Seonghwa hyung problems?” Hongjoong raised himself and looked at the other, shocked.

“How do you know?” Yeosang laughed because of his question, making him pout.

“Is kind of obvious, if you have been paying attention.” He smiled comfortingly at the older. “And Seonghwa hyung’s mouth gets loose when he drinks.”

“Of course it does…” Hongjoong sighed, resigned.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think Yunho and Mingi caught it up.” The Psychology student said, trying to soothe him.

“It’s okay, it’s probably time for it to come out in the open air.” This time it was Yeosang who got surprised.

“You like him, don’t you, hyung?” The younger asked, getting only a nod as a response. They both looked at Seonghwa, who was talking with San, and stayed in silence for a while. “You should tell him.” The Arts student turned to Yeosang, not sure of how he was feeling about it.

“I don’t think I’m ready, Sangie…” He admitted, deflating by the mere thought of that perspective.

“Then you should get closer to him.” The boy said, changing his look to see Jongho finishing up his photos. “He would like that.”

Hongjoog turned to the direction Yeosang was looking at and then back at the boy, wondering if what he was seeing there was true. If it was, then love was indeed very messy. He turned back to Seonghwa and he finally understood that he was ready to try that mess out. So he got up and went to stand close to the Architecture student again, who got surprised by seeing Hongjoong there. The other, then, started to talk about Wooyoung with him willingly and his heart picked up it’s pace. Unfortunately, San called him to take the last photos not soon after, but something in the Arts student changed demeanour while approaching him made him feel hopeful for the future. And the orange light that went with the last emotion felt just right for him, as Seonghwa could finally let himself anticipate for something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, yeah.  
> It's a lot, isn't it?  
> When I started the fic, I wasn't sure of what to do with Yeosang after Woosan happened and his relationship with Jongho started to be developed quite late into the writing process. So if it seems sudden, is because of that.  
> Woosan's project was inspired by, mostly, [ this image ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion#/media/File:Plutchik_Dyads.svg) and I went over it many times to figure out who and how these eight basic emotions would be done in the fic.  
> Anyway, I don't if I had something else to say.  
> Thank you for all the hits, kudos, and comments, and until next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the photoshoot, pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, new drama. Enjoy!

It wasn’t unusual for Mingi to go visit Yunho at university during his off-days. He would appear out of nowhere to try to distract the other while he studied in the library or walk around the campus waiting for his boyfriend's classes to be over for the day. So when the Magic student saw faded red hair crossing the bookshelves in the library that afternoon, he wasn’t particularly surprised. What did surprise him was his closed up expression while sitting down across from him at the study table.

The Economics student didn’t talk at first, but he clearly had something to say by the way he was fidgeting his hands and looking away from Yunho. It had been just a few days since Wooyoung and San had taken the photos for their project and since then Mingi had been acting a bit more clingy than usual, which was already a lot. And, if the Magic student was very honest with himself, he was exhausted of that. He loved Mingi with all his heart and had always thought his boyfriend’s attachment to him endearing, but ever since he had become closer to their other friends, Mingi’s behavior had become a bit too much. He would complain and nag if he gave anyone else any attention and it was taking too much of Yunho’s energy to reassure his soulmate.

“What are you doing?” The Economics student asked, suddenly, trying to look up the books opened in front of Yunho.

“Research…” He said, without raising his eyes from his notebook. A hand came into his eyesight and Yunho managed to stop Mingi from taking it. The Magic student looked up to his boyfriend and saw his hurt expression becoming angry. “Sorry, Mingi, but I can’t let you see that.”

“Why not?” The soulmate asked, annoyed.

“It’s a secret…” Yunho commented, lowering his head again, not sure how to deal with the situation. He and Mingi had never had secrets between them and it was hard enough for him to hide something without the other knowing so.

“A secret?” Mingi raised his voice, not caring anymore about the quiet environment around them. “We don’t have those.” The Magic student winced from the loud voice and covered his boyfriend’s mouth with both hands in panic. He didn’t want to be expelled from the library because his soulmate was being loud. Again. Yunho bowed to the students around in apology and gave Mingi a warning look. The boy nodded, agreeing, and he retrieved his hands.

“I know, babe. And I’m sorry. But this isn’t my secret…” He looked apologetic to his soulmate. “So I can’t tell you.”

“Whose is it then?” The Economics student demanded, growing jealousy showing. “Who is this person who is more important than our relationship?”

“Mingi…” The Magic student called, a mix of emotions apparent in his voice. “You know it isn’t like that.”

“Well, it sure looks like it.” The boyfriend crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaving his face empty, making Yunho sigh. If there was something that Mingi was when angry, it was stubborn. “You have been spending less and less time with me to be crumpled into this library, meeting older guys because of something that isn’t even related to school!”

“That’s not fair…” He complained. “I met Taeil sunbae and Jaehyun hyung to ask for help…” The Magic student sighed again, knowing he wasn’t helping his case. “Look, this is an urgent matter and one of our friends is really counting on me so, can’t you back off for a few days?”

“Back off?” Mingi now sounded outraged. “What do you mean with back off, Yunho?” He did a little pause to see what his soulmate would say, but the other only stared at him, cold. “Am I annoying you?” A bit of his hurt came out on his voice and the Magic student’s expression became regretful.

“No…” He started but sighed again. Lying was never his forte. “Yes, no, maybe a bit?!” Yunho completed, seeing his confusion mirrored on his boyfriend’s face. “You have been a bit too clingy and jealous recently....” The boy finished, carefully and embarrassed. He hadn’t expected to open like that to Mingi, hoping to give him signs slowly so that the other could figure it out on his own. It was usually the best course of action with his soulmate.

“You usually don’t care about that…” Mingi’s voice came out low and weak and he looked on the verge of tears.

“I know…” Yunho pouted, embarrassed. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Mingi’s feelings like this. “It just became too much recently.” The couple measured each other in silence, clearly uncomfortable in the situation. They weren't the type to fight or have discussions about their relationship. They just understood each other completely without the need for words. 

“It’s just…” The Economics student made a pause again, also becoming embarrassed. “We used to spend all of our time together and I just... miss you.” The boy whined and Yunho caught one of his hands over the table. “Studying in different schools sucks.” He pouted and his boyfriend gave him a small soft smile. Even if he didn’t feel the same, he understood Mingi very well.

“Well…” The Magic student started. “Give me just a few days to finish this and I’ll be all yours until finals start.” He bargained and Mingi gave him an enthusiastic nod and a smile back. Even if he knew that this issue would probably come back at some point in the future, Yunho wasn’t able to deny his soulmate anything.

Mingi, who also couldn’t deny anything to Yunho, gave him until the end of the week to finish the research or he would feel the full weight of his clinginess, to which Yunho giggled loudly and got them both expelled from the library for the rest of the day. That night he went back to his dorm, surprising a melancholic looking San, and ended up listening during most of the night about his best friend’s struggles about Wooyoung. The Economics student wasn’t sure how he had missed all that, since it had been happening right in front of his eyes, and had to give Yunho the reason for the situation. He was always so focused on his boyfriend that he lost sight of anything else.

So he stayed back in his dorm for the rest of the week, cuddling his best friend to soothe his suffering. He also noticed Hongjoong staying most of his nights in the coffee shop, until the closing time. Mingi asked the older why and he just got a grumble that he interpreted as ‘Wooyoung moping at home’. The Economics student didn’t understand what that could mean, but felt relieved when he saw Seonghwa coming in on Friday night to make Hongjoong company while the Arts student finished an essay. From afar, the barista thought the two older friends fitted quite well together.

On the same night, Yeosang found himself going out for drinks with San. He wasn’t sure how he ended up in a samgyeopsal restaurant with just the other, but anything at this point was better than staying inside his dorm frying his brain over Wooyoung and Jongho.

“How are things with Jongho?” The Photography student asked while putting the meat on the grill in front of them. They had barely said a word before that, both figuring out what they could talk about it while eating.

“Really? You want to start from there?” Yeosang deadpanned, not believing the other boy, who just shrugged. “I thought you didn't want to think about stuff like that…” He commented, drinking a shot of soju.

“I thought that too, but…” San raised his eyes to the Psychology student. “I kind of don’t have anyone else to talk to.” The other raised an eyebrow to him. “Well, I have been boring hyung for too long about this and Mingi is too whipped and happy with Yunho to even understand half of what I’m going through.” He gave Yeosang a stranded smile. “You just get it.” He then turned back to the meat and a warm smile came to his lips. “Also hyung went on a date with Joongie hyung, so…”

“He did?” The other raised his voice, surprised. He wasn’t expecting Hongjoong to make a move so soon.

“Yeah, I was very shocked when hyung told me.” The boy drank a bit of soju while still keeping an eye on the meat. “But good for them. They have been dancing around each other for a year.”

“That long?” Yeosang asked and San looked at him, confused. “I don’t know the details. Just that there was something obviously going on between them.”

“Oh, get yourself ready for a ride then…” The Photography student said, laughing. He served both of them some soju and turned the pork over the grill. “Last year, Hwa hyung met this Arts student in an app. It was supposed to be just a one night stand, but they kept talking over message and met up a few more times for sex.” San drank another shot and continued. “It was good for hyung. He hadn’t tried to date anyone since being rejected by his soulmate in the second year of high school, but you know him, right? Old fashioned romantic…” He laughed again and cut the meat into bite pieces.

“He got rejected?” The other asked, confused by how anyone could reject the older. He was handsome, nice, kind, and smart.

“Yeah…” San giggled, remembering his older brother's misfortune. “She was a lesbian, so… It wouldn’t work between them anyway…”

“Poor hyung…” Yeosang commented, trying to hide his laughter by drinking more soju.

“Right?” The Photography student pointed at him with the meat scissors. “But he didn’t give up on love. Even if he was hurt, he would continue to dream about finding someone to spend the rest of his life with. And meeting Hongjoong hyung made him almost obsessed. He was so sure that he was the one, after just a few hook-ups. So you can see how he would get devastated from Hongjoong hyung saying he, and I’m quoting this, didn’t have the time or energy to have a real relationship.”

“He didn’t…” Yeosang said, not believing. He was very engrossed in the way San was telling the story.

“He did…” The other giggled, serving them the now grilled pork. “And hyung couldn’t understand why. They were compatible, had some similar interests, and the sex was…”

“I don’t want to know…” The Psychology student interrupted, stuffing his mouth with meat.

“Well, it’s your loss…” San said, laughing, and started to eat too, thinking how long had been since the last time he laughed so much. “Anyway…” He continued, after a few bites. “Hyung mopped around for most of last year because Joong hyung only wanted him for his body, but still went over his apartment every time he called.” Yeosang made a face, disapproving of Seonghwa's behavior. “I know, not healthy, right? He knew that but still did. It was kind of obvious how much he liked this guy that he couldn’t even say his name to me.”

“You didn’t know who he was?”

“No…” The Photography student took another shot. “I just saw who Hongjoong hyung was and learned his name after I started studying here. Hyung would always come to eat lunch with me in the cafeteria to observe him, now that he actually had an excuse to go there.” The boy giggled again. “And that’s how I became aware of you and… you know....” The atmosphere became tense and Yeosang gave him an understanding smile.

“You can talk about Wooyoung if you feel comfortable enough…” San nodded and they both drank again.

“The rest is history…” He said, not that enthusiastic to continue talking after the Communications student had come in the picture. “Hyung tried to become closer after we all started hanging out together, didn’t work out at first but then it seems that now, it has…” The Psychology student didn’t respond and they ate in silence until the meat and most of the side dishes were cleared out. Neither really wanted to openly discuss Wooyoung, but the subject was under both skins. “So, Jongho…” San tried again, after a few more shots of soju.

“I don’t know…” Yeosang gave in, tongue now loose because of the alcohol. “We haven’t seen each other since the day in the studio and he mostly asks if I’m doing okay through text.” The boy sighed, unhappy. “I guess he is nervous thinking that I got scared away from his confession.”

“You didn’t?” The other asked, curious.

“No…” The Psychology student looked up at San’s face. “He is just too special for me to be freaked out by his crush.” The boy’s eyes widened by what he had just said, mirroring the other’s expression.

“Yeosang…” The Photography student called, carefully. “Do you also have a crush on Jongho?” The question took the boy by surprise and he took some time to answer.

“I don’t know…” He said, still shocked by what he was saying. “I never thought about it like this.” San gave him a small smile. “I just think that he is nice and funny and anyone would be very lucky to date him…”

“That’s including you?”

“Maybe…” Yeosang smiled a bit, embarrassed by admitting things to San before he had admitted them to himself. But thinking back at all the times he had thought about how cute Jongho’s smile was or about how pretty and warm his eyes were, it shouldn’t be such a surprise.

“Well, in my land, that’s a crush…” The Photography student giggled but suddenly became very serious. “Are you worried about it?” The other boy turned to him, confused.

“You mean, about Woo?” He asked back and his friend only nodded, serving himself another shot. “Not really. It’s not like our relationship is going that well right now, and… If these feelings for Jongho don’t go away, then maybe it’s time for something new.” San raised his eyes to Yeosang, completely taken aback.

“How can you be so calm about this?”

“I don’t know…” The boy answered, a sad smile on his lips. “I’ve recently been thinking a lot about Woo breaking up with me and, maybe, I just got used to the idea.” San stared at him like he had grown another head. “Don’t get me wrong, I still love Wooyoung with all my heart and wouldn’t break up with him for a simple crush on someone else. But, if that’s what he wants, then I’m fine with.”

“Why would he want that? You two are perfect together.” He said, wild and loud, and Yeosang thought it was funny that San hadn’t added one plus one yet.

“Because maybe he fell for someone else, Sannie…” The Psychology student commented, carefully, trying to not overwhelm his friend more. “Maybe he found someone else that is perfect for him.”

“No, he didn’t…” San dismissed, turning away and drinking more soju. He didn’t want to believe what Yeosang was implying.

“Sannie…” The boy put his hand over the other’s shoulder, making him turn back to him. “It’s the only explanation.” He gave the Photography student a warm smile, to show he wasn’t mad about it. At least, not anymore. “He is avoiding me because he started liking someone else and he is avoiding you because that person is you.” San started to deny it by shaking his head. “Look, I’ve known Woo for a very long time and he is my best friend. This is what he does when doesn’t want to face a difficult situation. He runs and avoids it until he can’t anymore.”

“That makes no sense, Yeosang. He loves you…” The other pleaded, desperate.

“Well, feelings change.” The Psychology student shrugged. “Maybe our love isn’t what it was before and that’s okay.” He smiled at San, reassuring. “It may take a while for us to figure out what to do now, but nothing in the world is going to break our love and bond.” Yeosang, then, lightly patted the other’s shoulder. “That doesn't mean that is not going to change with time.”

“Sangie…” The boy whined, his full guilt coming out on his voice. “I’m sorry… I didn’t want for any of this to happen.”

“I know…” The other smiled again, this time a bit bitter. “But it’s going to be okay.” San opened his mouth to talk again. “Even if you two get together in the end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys.  
> I still can't believe that I created Yungi drama at 40 of the second half (football/soccer reference hahaha), but thankfully is something they will figure out with time. And that it ended up happening right when Mingi went on hiatus. I just hope he can feel better soon. Dealing with any kind of mental struggle is hard and takes a lot of hard work, but I believe he would be happier and stronger soon. And if any of you are getting through something similar, know that you seeking help it's not a sign of weakness. Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while.  
> Anyway, thank you for all the amazing comments, kudos, and hits.  
> See you next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the photoshoot, pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, Yunho's research. Enjoy!

Yeosang’s words, however wise and collected, didn't make San feel reassured in his feelings for Wooyoung. It just made him even more sure of the fact he had come in between the two soulmates and he hated that. Not even the perspective, to which he wasn’t fully sure if he believed in it, of the Communications student liking him back soothed him enough for the guilt not to grow. But if, and that was the worst for San, Yeosang was right and he had a possibility of ending up with Wooyoung after the end of this mess, he knew he wasn’t selfless enough to not go with it. He liked the other boy too much for that.

At the same time, Wooyoung was beating himself down over what he had done on the day of the photoshoot. It was clear for him how jealous he had become of San and Yeosang’s new proximity and how much he yearned to be part of it. It had gone to a point where he just wanted both boys back but was too ashamed by everything he had done to try to make amends.

So, when Yunho called him on Sunday, Wooyoung almost didn’t leave Hongjoong’s sofa. It was only his sense of gratitude for the other that made him get up and go to their usual coffee shop. He was surprised to see the Magic student sitting at a table far away from the counter and not even a trace of Mingi in the establishment. Yunho greeted him anxiously and went to the register to buy both drinks.

“Where’s Mingi?” The Communications student asked, as soon as his friend sat back with the coffee.

“It’s his day off…” Yunho commented, mysteriously. “When he told me that he wasn’t working today, I thought this would be the place for us to meet in secret.” Something about his tone seemed off to Wooyoung.

“Did you guys fight?” He asked, curious.

“Not really…” The Magic student smiled, weakly. “It was a healthy discussion between two adults.” The other raised his eyebrow and Yunho’s shoulders dropped down. “He was angry because I was keeping a secret from him.” Wooyoung felt a pang of guilt but didn't interrupt. “And I was tired of him being so clingy.” The boy’s mouth then dropped. They didn’t say anything for a while, both smiling awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, Yunho…” The Communications student said, embarrassed.

“Don’t worry, Woo…” He said, reassuring. “It wasn’t your fault. I think it was a talk we needed to have and, well, Mingi does need to learn that sometimes I’m going to give other people attention.” Again, an awkward silence fell between them. “Still, I didn’t come here to talk about him.” The boy, then, opened the backpack that was beside him and took out a few books and a notebook.

While Yunho nervously shared the results of his research with Wooyoung, the boy became more and more dispirited. Most of the cases the Magic student showed in the books were from people who had misinterpreted a detail on their soulmate mark and got attached to someone that wasn’t their soulmates. Sometimes they would find the actual person later in life and bring a lot of heartbreak to all of the people involved or they would stay with the first person, but the bond would be as if it was tainted. All of the older books warned against it: people, and the wizards around them, should be very careful of not encouraging any type of long term relationship outside of the soulmate bond.

“This is horrible…” Wooyoung said, after reading the third warning about that.

“Yeah, but thank god the views about non-soulmates relationships got better with time.” The Magic student said, showing him a few contemporary studies. They had a lighter tone about the magical consequences of soulmate mark misinterpretation, but still showed a lot of heartache for the people involved. Yunho watched attentively while his friend read through it, feeling bad for Woooyoung. He knew very well that everything he had found was the exact opposite of what the other boy wanted.

“But, Yunho, this isn’t…” The Communications student suddenly started, after thinking about what he had read.

“I know…” The other said, taking another book from his backpack. “This was all that I could find by myself at the library. It contains most of the accepted soulmate theory known today.” He gave Wooyoung a small smile. “Luckily for us, there's a graduate student at my uni called Moon Taeil, who has been trying to expand on this theory.” Yunho opened the book. “This is his undergraduate thesis and he found two contemporary cases of people that had their marks actually going through changes, what, if you remember what was written on Soulmate marks: Advanced knowledge of soulmates and their bonds…” The boy pointed to another book on the table. “It was deemed impossible.” Yunho gave him Taeil’s thesis, so that he could read it by himself. “Taeil sunbaenim theorized that changes in soulmates marks had always been occurring, long before the first registers of one in Korea, in the earlier years of the Goryeo dynasty. But all of those have been destroyed by Confucianists introducing a more strict sense of familiar structure to the country. He’s been trying to find evidence for that abroad…” The Communications student raised his eyes to his friend, impressed by the passion he could see on Yunho while he talked.

“You really like this, don’t you?” Wooyoung asked, a bit amazed. He couldn’t keep details about what he studied like that to save his life. The Magic student nodded, blushing.

“It's kind of incredible how all of these magical aspects influenced our society and vice-versa…” A fond smile appeared on his lips, like all of what he had learned was something very dear to him. “Anyway…” Yunho laughed by himself. “The cases Taeil sunbae found are a lot more drastic than yours.” He pointed at one of the underlined paragraphs. “In this one, the woman had been married for five years with her soulmate when her drawing of white daisies started to become orange chrysanthemums.” The Magical student, then, turned a few pages and showed Wooyoung another underlined paragraph. “And this guy had a dolphin that became a shark.” He raised his eyes and met his friend's stunned look. “Unfortunately, they both had fallen in love with other people, who had the exact match of their new marks.” The two boys exchanged sad smiles.

“Did you talk about me with your sunbae?” The Communications student asked, apprehensive.

“Not directly. I asked him a theoretical question using your example and he kind of got fascinated by the idea…” Yunho answered, not mentioning that Taeil had caught up to what he was trying to do and asked him if his friend would want to be interviewed after his situation was resolved. The Magic student still hadn’t answered that request. “But he said that a case like this would probably mean a change in feelings, but not a big one.” Wooyoung looked at him confused. “He thinks that the people involved in a case like this, by having such similar drawings, would fit in quite well with each other, independent of what kind of relationships they develop between themselves.” 

"What does that even mean, Yunho?" The other boy was still looking very confused at his friends, and he couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped his lips. 

“Most scholars nowadays understand that a soulmate bond is the most strong magical bond between two people that are not related by blood. It shows the person who is more fit for you. There are a lot of different classifications and explanations about what it's behind the bond and the drawing's significance, but I can tell you about it later, if you want. There’s even this old shamanic story about how soulmates marks started.” The Magic student got excited again and started turning the pages of his notebook trying to find where his other sunbae, Lee Jaehyun, a third-year undergraduate student from a traditional shaman family, had written the story. “There was this boy that had a horrible sinbyeong for years and went around to the country trying to find a cure only to spread his butterfly mark to the people he felt in love with…” Wooyoung didn’t look very enthusiastic to hear the story, so the other closed down his notebook, breathing deeper before continuing. “But what all of them agree is that this magical bond manifests itself in people as love. It doesn't need to be necessarily romantical or sexual, there are a lot of cases of soulmates that are friends and partners for life without ever developing a romantic relationship.”

“So that means?” Wooyoung, not sure of what his friend was trying to tell him.

“It's a hypothesis, but it probably means that your magic bond is pointing more towards San than to Yeosang now.” Wooyoung’s face dropped and Yunho hurried up to complete. “What doesn’t mean that your bond with Sangie has been broken or anything like that. Taeil sunbae put it as if you and Yeosang are fields, with lively green grass, and San is the flowers that can grow from it. The change could have happened with any of you two, and, well, it happened with you.” The other boy didn’t say anything, and the Magic student kept going, trying to make him understand what it meant. “Maybe in the future, Yeosang’s mark can bloom too or, if you hadn’t met San, then it wouldn’t even be possible.” His voice sounded hopeful, but Wooyoung couldn’t share the sentiment.

“So it’s my fault, right? I fell in love with him and brought both of them to this mess.” Yunho pitied him, and his expression became a lot more considerate after the other boy lowered his head.

“It’s no one's fault, Woo…” He said, softly. “We are talking about magical bonds here and they are a possibility, not a rule.” The Magic student reached over the books to hold both of his friend’s hands. “You don’t need to fall in love or date San, if you don’t want to.”

“The problem is that I want to, Yunho…” Wooyoung whispered, scared from admitting it out loud. “I want to date him, but I also want to date Yeosang.”

“That’s fine too, Woo…” The other boy’s voice and eyes softened even more. “There are a lot of people out there in polyamorous relationships, being soulmates or not.”

“I know…” The Communications student whined, trying not to cry. “But that doesn't mean that they would accept it…” Yunho looked at his friend, and tried very hard not to laugh. He didn’t want to be inconsiderate towards Wooyoung’s insecurities but he knew San well enough to be sure that the boy wouldn’t care one bit about being in a polyamorous relationship if he really liked the other person. And, by what he had seen from Yeosang, he loved his boyfriend too much to let him go for something like this. However, he knew he wasn’t the one who should tell him that, especially because he knew the Communications student wouldn’t believe in him.

“Well, you don’t know that, Woo.” The Magic student said, firmly, making Wooyoung raise his head to look at him. “There are the only ones who can tell you that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
> It's here and I hope it makes sense. Yunho's worked very hard to help Wooyoung and it shows. And, as usual, we little cameos from characters that appear in other parts of the series (some were already posted and others not).  
> And if anyone got curious about the myth he mentioned, don't worry, it's coming out soon. (EDIT: [it's here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903313)!)  
> Anyone, thank you for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos. It seriously helps me out a lot these days.  
> See you next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversations are bound to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. The beginning of the end. Enjoy!

Wooyoung knew that Yunho was right. He didn’t actually know if San or Yeosang would accept his new feelings. And that now he had an explanation for his changing soulmate mark, he didn’t have any more excuses to avoid talking to any of them. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t scared of doing so. Would Yeosang react well? Accept him and his new feelings? Or would he feel betrayed and disgusted by him? And what about San? He didn’t even know if he liked him back. He didn’t know anything and was terrified of finding out. 

In a way, he was so scared of the Psychology student outright rejecting him that letting Yeosang just continuously being mad at him for ignoring and avoiding him for so long seemed easier. Same with San. But he couldn’t just go back to refusing to talk about what had happened. He needed to put on his adult pants and face his boyfriend like Hongjoong kept saying every morning. Wooyoung was sure that the older had his best interests in mind, but it didn’t go unnoticed that suddenly Seonghwa had started to spend a lot of his free time on the apartment too. He hadn’t witnessed anything beyond a heavier makeout session after going back from his talk with Yunho, but it was clear that even more than before, the Arts student wanted his privacy back.

The Communications student felt glad for his older friends. Seeing Seonghwa moping after Hongjoong wasn’t exactly fun and they both looked a lot happier than Wooyoung had ever seen them. And it was also kind of fun seeing them act like a married couple doting on their son while they tried to cheer him up. But he felt intruding in their relationship by just being there while also missing being part of a couple. He missed the cuddling in bed, eating together, being with the other person just because you could.

Because of that, he rehearsed going back to his dorm a few times. But every time he got around the building, he would see glimpses of Yeosang or San and just would go back to Hongjoong’s apartment, feeling defeated. Both Seonghwa and Hongjoong would try to cheer him up or help in any way they could, but they all knew this was on Wooyoung. He was the one who needed to be brave and go talk to the other boys.

So they did the best next thing and invited everyone to a small celebration during that week. As the end of the semester came closer, the boys started to have less free time to hang out with each other, and the recent developments had made the group fall a bit apart. Wooyoung was basically talking with only Yunho, Hongjoong, and now Seonghwa. San and Yeosang had become suddenly very close and the latter had started to be very awkward with Jongho out of nowhere, mostly blushing and getting quiet whenever someone mentioned the younger. Even Yunho and Mingi seemed a bit off those days.

Besides that, the oldest friends in the group had something to announce and why not just gather everyone to say that there were officially a couple now. So on Wednesday night, Wooyoung saw Hongjoong and Seonghwa come into the apartment carrying bags of booze and snacks and asking him to order fried chicken for eight people.

“Why?” The boy whined, hoping that the other two had decided to make a mukbang.

“We invited the boys over...” Seonghwa said simply, stocking the fridge with the drinks. There were a variety of beers, soju and wine, and a few sodas for Jongho too.

“All of them?” He asked again, turning to Hongjoong, who was putting the snacks on different bowls.

“Yes.” The Arts student raised his eyes to him and saw Wooyoung starting to panic. “You don’t need to be in the middle of the action, Woo. Just stay on the side and no one is going to bother you.”

“But, hyung…” The boy whined, pouting.

“I know it’s hard…” The older continued, giving the other a small smile. “But if you want to make things better, you need to be around them. And it’s better to do it with other people first, right?”

“I guess…” He still crossed his arms in front of his chest, like a spoiled child who didn’t want to do what their parents had said. Wooyoung, however, did order the food after a bit of whining and helped Seonghwa to clean up the living room a bit after being asked.

The first people to get there were Yunho, Mingi, and Jongho, which made the Communications student breath relieved. The soulmate couple was back to normal, stuck to each other's sides as nothing could ever break them, and Wooyoung felt as jealous as happy for them. It would be too weird seeing those two fighting. The high school student, however, treated the boy coldly, how he had been doing for a while, but stayed by his side. His behavior confused everyone, but no one had the guts to question Jongho about it.

Yeosang and San got there a bit later when Mingi was complaining about an essay one of his professors had asked. The atmosphere quickly became awkward and they sat together at the opposite side from Wooyoung and Jongho. For a few seconds, the other four boys observed them tensely, but then there was a knock at the door and the Communications student ran to open it. He got the chicken from the delivery man and stayed there for a bit, not wanting to go back just yet. Seeing the two boys he still wanted to avoid together had turned his stomach into a pit of jealousy.

“Woo…” He heard suddenly and saw Seonghwa close to him, with a pitying look in his eyes. “Give me the chicken...” Wooyoung didn’t understand why he was asking him that but still did. “And help Hongjoong with the drinks in the kitchen, okay?” He nodded, giving him the food and heading straight to the fridge, where the Arts student was taking out some bottles of beer. With just a glance at the newcomer, he pointed to the cabinet over the sink.

“Can you get us a few cups?” Hongjoong asked nicely, and the younger didn’t say anything, going to do what he was asked. While he took the cups out of the cabinet, it became clear that his older friends were trying to butter down the situation. Seonghwa appeared by his side, empty-handed, and, thanking him, gathered all the cups to go back to the other boys.

The boy was the last one to go back to the living room and sat back beside Jongho, unnoticed. After a while, the Architecture student passed him a glass of beer, to which Wooyoung drank half in just one sip, and the younger gave him a chicken leg without saying anything. He felt grateful for being fed without gathering a lot of attention, but also made him think that his friends were treating him like a glass ornament that could break at any touch. They weren’t necessarily wrong, but it still annoyed him.

The scene of Seonghwa and Jongho passing him food or drinks discreetly repeated itself a few times until he refused the prawn chips the younger had handed him without looking. The high school student turned to him, confusion and resentment written all over his face. The two boys stared at each other for a few seconds. Wooyoung was looking for answers, but he still had no idea of why Jongho was treating him like this. He knew the boy was openly taking Yeosang’s side on their situation and the two boys weren’t that close, to begin with, but it seemed quite unfair.

“Do you have a problem with me, Jongho?” The Communications student asked after the younger had turned away from him, eating the snack in his hand. He didn’t turn back again, raising his eyes to where Yeosang had been laughing at something Yunho had said.

“I do, hyung.” The high school student admitted, firmly, not seeing Wooyoung’s surprised eyes looking at him.

“Why?” He asked again, but this time the younger didn’t answer, still observing the Psychology student at the other side of the room. Yeosang seemed to notice his stare and raised his head, finding the two boys now looking at him, turning away quickly, blushing and confused.

San felt the change in the boy beside him and whispered something in his ear. The other shook his head like he was dismissing what he had said and gone back to pay attention to the main conversation while the Photography student looked over to Jongho and Wooyoung. He exchanged a look with the younger, who turned away and got up from his seat, deciding to go to the kitchen, and then turned to the other boy. They stared at each other for a while, until it became too much for both of them. There were too many unanswered questions between them, and San reached out for his drink after turning away.

Wooyoung decided to go to the kitchen too and found Jongho drinking some soda while observing the living room. As an excuse, the boy got a glass and filled it with water. He drank it over the sink, leaving the glass already there.

“Do you like Yeosang?” He asked the younger, back to back with him.

“Yes.” The high school student said, in a confrontational manner. “Do you have a problem with that?” Wooyoung didn’t know and stayed there for a bit thinking about it. He then sighed and went to stand beside Jongho.

“Not really… I bet you wouldn’t be such a shitty boyfriend like me…” The younger let out a humorless laugh.

“I used to think the same, I fucked up by confessing.” He sighed and then turned to the other. “Hyung still heads over hills for you, hyung.” Wooyoung denied with his head. “Trust me, he is.”

“Even if he is…” It was the Communications student's time to sigh. “That doesn’t fix our relationship.”

“You’re right.” Wooyoung looked at him, surprised and scared. “You need to talk to him for that.”

The younger went back to the living room after saying that, leaving the other struck in his place. If even their youngest friend, one that had every reason in the world to want Wooyoung not to fix his relationship with Yeosang, knew that he needed to talk to his boyfriend, then he had no more excuse or time to waste.

But the boys’ problems were forgotten for a bit when an already tipsy Seonghwa got up and announced to everybody that he and Hongjoong were officially a couple now. The news got a few of them by surprise, but it didn’t stop all of them to congratulate them in a very loud and chaotic manner. A very drunk San hugged his older brother, crying and slurring all the times he had comforted him because of Hongjoong while Yunho and Mingi asked very intrusive questions to the Arts student.

After that, both Jongho and Yeosang congratulated them in a more level-headed fashion and an awkward moment happened when they noticed the other was close to them. The younger said something to the other in a whisper and they went to the kitchen. Wooyoung felt curious about it but sat back alone in his corner after giving thumbs up to the couple as his celebration, choosing to ignore a stare from the other side of the room.

“Hyung, I want to apologize.” Jongho started as soon as they deemed far away from the rest of the group. “I shouldn’t have dropped that bomb like this and…” The boy stopped suddenly, noticing the older getting closer to him. Yeosang stopped right in front of him and saw a light blush crawl over the other’s face.

“You’re so cute, Jongho.” He said, very aware he wouldn’t be so close or saying that if he was sober. “I could kiss you now if I wasn’t dating anyone.” The other’s blush became deeper and he opened his mouth a few times, trying to speak over his shock by the older forwardness. And the fact he was obviously staring at his lips.

“Sangie hyung….” The high school student called, panicked and Yeosang brought his eyes back to his, which became softer.

“But I’m dating and drunk, so I won’t…” The boy sighed and put a bit of distance between them, giggling by the pure terror on Jongho’s eyes. “See, that’s how you drop a bomb on someone, Jongie…” He laughed again.

“Wait? Are you…” The younger asked, confused and the Psychology student brushed his hand on his.

“I meant what I said,” Yeosang affirmed. “I wasn’t aware of it before, but I like you too, Jongie. I needed these days to figure it out, so I’m sorry if you were worried or…” He got interrupted by the other, who got closer to him like he was going to kiss him, but the younger stopped himself at the right time and turned it into a hug. The Psychology student got surprised but quickly raised his arms, embracing the younger.

“I can wait, hyung. I can wait for you until the end of the world.”

Wooyoung, who had tried to watch the pair in the kitchen discreetly, missed most of their conversation, since San, after staring at him for a long time, came stumbling to sit beside him. The Communications student tensed up but waited until the other started to speak.

“Look, I don't know what happened between us or why you started to run away from me like the devil, but Yeosang has this ridiculous theory that you started liking me, and…” The boy made a small pause and looked softly at the other. “If there is even a faint chance that you like me back, I want you to know that I can wait for you to figure yourself out.” He then gulped, scared. “Even if that means you are going to stay with Yeosang.” Wooyoung took a few seconds to absorb everything San had said. It sounded crazy that San liked him and would accept whatever he decided. And that Yeosang had, in a way, figured exactly what had happened with him. Still, he was too scared to do anything else.

“San, don’t do this with me, okay?” The Communications student said, in a pleading tone. “I can’t… I shouldn't be with you.”

“I know, I know…” The boy moved, losing a bit of his balance and coming back up. “You two are soulmates and it makes no sense that you would like me and…”

“No, I like you too…” He said, not wanting to hear San putting himself down like that. The other widened his eyes in surprise. “It’s just I… This is all so confusing and I don’t know what to do, okay?” The Photography student nodded very slowly and then got up very quickly, running towards the bathroom.

Not believing in what he had just said, Wooyoung left the apartment without anyone noticing since both Seonghwa and Hongjoong had gone after the first’s younger brother. The boy walked around for a bit, wincing a bit from the cold draft of the late-night, mind empty as the streets around him. Not sure of where to go, he went back to his dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,  
> I know this chapter isn't the best, but at least people started to talk to each other?!  
> Anyway, I don't know. It feels a bit anti-climatic now their resolutions are coming up. Or maybe I'm just overwhelmed by how close we are from the end.  
> Still, thank you everyone for reading, commenting and leaving kudos.  
> See you next week.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversations are bound to happen, pt 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are very close to the end and I nervous now. Still, hope you enjoy it!

After a few weeks of not being there, Wooyoung was very surprised by how little it had changed. Everything was in the exact same place that he had left, with the exception his bed was made, something that he never bothered to do it. He sat there, observing the bedroom and feeling all the mixed feelings he could by seeing the small home he and his soulmate had created there.  Was Yeosang still his soulmate, though? From what Yunho had told him, it basically didn’t matter. Everything he had learned about love during his whole life had been destroyed in just six months and it was devastating. Weren’t they supposed to find this one person with who they would spend the rest of their lives? They had a drawing that marked that, didn’t they?  Wooyoung raised the leg of his pants and stared at the now full-bloomed Chinese chives. It was identical to San’s now and he felt defeated. Like his brain and his heart had gone into war and he was the loser. The Communications student sighed, and looked away, finding eyes observing him.

Yeosang closed the door behind him, eyes dropping to his boyfriend’s ankle. He quickly raised his gaze again, seeing the tears on Wooyoung’s eyes starting to fall. Not even thinking, he went to the other boy, sitting beside him and bringing his head to his shoulder. The Psychology student let his boyfriend cry until his tears dried and waited patiently for him to speak. It didn’t matter how late it was or how many drinks he had that night, he needed to talk to Wooyoung.

“I’m sorry, Sangie…” His voice was low and broken. “I don’t know how it happened, but it did. My mark changed because I fell in love with San and I just couldn’t face you.” The boy clung to his boyfriend, hiding his face on the creak of this neck. “I even made poor Yunho research about this. Just because I didn’t want to believe what happened and he even fought with Mingi because of it.” He sounded so guilty and embarrassed, that Yeosang’s heart broke a bit. “But I knew…” The tears started falling again. “I knew exactly what was happening. But…” Breathing deeply, Wooyoung bravely raised his head to face his boyfriend. “I was so disgusted by myself for falling in love with someone else. Because I still love you.”

“Woo…” The Psychology student called, very surprised. The other turned away while he absorbed the information, panicking over his silence. After a few minutes, not managing to keep his thoughts in check, he got up to leave, but Yeosang caught his hand just in time. Wooyoung turned to him and met the same soft and loving eyes his boyfriend would always look at him before everything that had happened. “I know it’s going to take us some time to figure this out and talk through things, including the fact that you hid all of this from me instead of just talking to me…” The boy got a bit annoyed remembering that, but breathed deeply to calm down. The last thing he wanted was to turn this conversation into a fight. “But we can go through this, Woo. Together.”

“Sang, you don’t get it!” He let go of Yeosang’s hand. “I’m in love with San and…”

“I like Jongho too.” The other boy said, interrupting him, getting Wooyoung shocked. “He told me you asked him and, well, I guess we are both in the same mess together.”

“But….” The Communications student started. “But…” His mind, however, was blank. The boy sat back beside his boyfriend.

“We can make this work, Woo…” Yeosang held Wooyoung’s hand again. “Whatever we and the boys decide, we can go through it. Together.” He looked softly at the other’s eyes and let go of his hand to hold his face. The Psychology student cleaned the new rush of tears running through his face and gave him a small peck on his lips.

Wooyoung could finally breathe freely for the first time in months. He knew it was just the start, but he felt so relieved for being accepted by Yeosangm that he felt like he could float in the air for a few seconds. Of course, their conversation went into the night and both boys went to class the next day feeling miserable by the lack of sleep and the Psychology student hangover. But, at least now, they were on the same page.

During the next few days, they researched and talked a lot about polyamorous relationships. Because the one thing that became clear from their first talk was that Yeosang, as close as he had become with San, wasn’t attracted to him and Wooyoung only saw Jongho was a younger angry friend. They had to figure out what that could mean for their own relationship and also a way to propose this new arrangement to other boys, in a way that could work for the four of them, if they accepted.  They also spent as much time as they could to get in sync with each other again. Their time apart had brought new habits and even cuddling had to become something new they had to figure out. It was still familiar for both boys, but they also had grown and changed so much in just a short amount of time, that it also felt new.

The couple, just like all their other friends, was drowning in exams, essays, and projects to finish for the end of the semester. Even Jongho, who was still in the middle of his school year, suddenly was overwhelmed by the amount of work he had. All of that also meant that Wooyoung and San’s exhibition was just around the corner and both boys were too embarrassed by their confessions to work in it in person. So they continued sending emails back and forth while the Photography student edited the final shots they would use and his partner rounded up their theoretical explanations for it. The class where they had to discuss the photo disposition in the university halls had been awkward enough for both of them.

Obviously, Wooyoung knew soon or later he would have to talk to San. After all, he was half of his heart now and he just couldn’t go on anymore pretending it wasn’t. And Yeosang had to do the same with Jongho. Both were scared of being rejected, but at least they still had each other, so the fear was smaller.  The Psychology student, however, knew he had to be very careful about his situation. Jongho was still in school and had never had a serious relationship before, so he was worried he could throw the boy off by offering him a polyamorous one from the start. But he also worried about the opposite. That the high school student would be so anxious to date him that he would say yes without thinking.

“Sure,” Jongho said as soon as Yeosang finished explaining to him the situation on a Sunday afternoon, in their skateboarding spot.

“Are you sure you understand what I’m saying?” The older asked, suspicious.

“Of course, I do, hyung. We are going to date and Woo and San hyungs are going to date too, and you and Woo hyung are still a couple, but I don't have to date anyone else.” He said, smiling like he thought was funny that Yeosang thought he hadn’t understood it.

“And you’re okay with that?” Again, the older asked, still suspicious.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? It’s not like I didn’t know you were still going to let Woo hyung crawl back to you after everything. You’re too soft for that, hyung.” Jongho teased, smiling again. Yeosang rolled his eyes but smiled back.

“You, kids, go on with everything very easily…” He commented, teasing too.

“Well, and you like this kid right here…” The high school student came closer and kissed the other cheek, leaving him blushing and embarrassed. He giggled because of his new boyfriend’s reaction and the Psychology student looked at him softly.

They didn’t say much for a while, enjoying and experimenting with their new status. Jongho played around with the older’s fingers until finally holding his hand and Yeosang caressed the younger’s face many times before finally gathering enough courage to peck his lips. It was a light brush, but they both smiled brightly afterward. For the Psychology student, it felt as right as kissing Wooyoung.

“Still, I want to take things slow with you, Jongie…” The younger looked at him confused after they shared a few more innocent kisses. “You’re still a minor and any kind of discomfort you feel, I want you to tell me about it”.

“Don’t worry, hyung. I’m not gonna pull a Wooyoung hyung on you…” He laughed wholeheartedly, but Yeosang only looked at him, serious. “Okay, fine. I promise. And I’m just a year younger than you, hyung.”

“Still, I don’t want to take any risks, okay?” The Psychology student said, worried he hadn’t expressed himself well enough but the other nodded, understanding. “And you will probably need to work on your jealousy too…” The older deadpanned, with a glint of teasing on his eyes.

“I’m not jealous!” Jongho protested, making Yeosang laugh.

“Your relationship with your brother’s boyfriend says the contrary.” The high school student crossed his arms, pouting, making the other giggle and kiss his pout away. The younger boy seemed happy after the kiss, but Yeosang still turned seriously to him. “But I’m serious. You’re going to see me and Woo kissing and holding hands, and that can make you uncomfortable.” This time, Jongho thought about it for a while before nodding seriously to the older.

“It may take me a while, but I will get used to it…” He reassured Yeosang. “Being with you is more important than whatever possessive idea that I could have about love.” They looked at each other, both feeling safe in the new relationship they had just started to build.

At the same time, Wooyoung was knocking on San’s dorm door to have a very similar conversation. He felt weak and anxious but wasn’t going to back out this time. If Yeosang was brave enough to face Jongho, he could talk to his project partner.  The Photography student opened the door, very surprised to see the other there. He knew that he would have to talk about his confession to Wooyoung at some point soon, but he wasn’t expecting it to be this quickly, or that the other was going to be the one who made the first step.

San let him come in and pointed to Mingi’s bed for him to sit down. Seeing the Communications student there made him remember the week he had stayed with him. It was around that time he had first developed feelings for Wooyoung and he just wanted to be able to kiss the other like he had been dreaming for months. Something similar was going through the other boy’s mind.  The two boys stayed in silence for a while, neither brave enough to break the silence. They measured each other, one embarrassed and the other suddenly becoming hopeful. Something about San’s manners made Wooyoung sure that the boy wouldn’t reject him. That he would accept this relationship very easily.

“Sannie, I’m sorry…” The Communications student said, in a soft voice. The other raised his eyes to him, expression a bit blank. “I was terrified of myself and my feelings and I hurt you in the process of figuring them out, so I’m sorry.” San still didn’t say anything, starting to show only his surprise by what Wooyoung was saying. “I’ve liked you for so long now and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you because I didn’t want to admit that to myself. I didn’t want to let go of what I thought love meant and…” The boy looked away, ashamed, but still feeling the other’s attentive eyes on him. Wooyoung, then, raised the leg of his pants that was hiding his soulmate mark to show it to San.

The other looked down and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He had seen Yeosang’s mark before, so he knew what it was supposed to be like. But it wasn’t it. The green Chinese chives were full bloom, with the delicate white flowers, just like his own mark. San raised his eyes to Wooyoung, asking him the silent question of what had happened. And that was what the Communications student explained. How he had noticed his mark changing and the guilt it brought to him. The research Yunho had done and how he had to face his feelings because of it. How Yeosang had made him understand that this didn’t change anything between them.

“Recently, I’ve been thinking about why it changed, though.” Wooyoung continued as San didn’t say anything, too shocked to even move. “And Yeosang thinks that maybe I needed to see the change happening outside for me to accept it, he has this whole theory about how psychological states influence magical stuff too. He said that he is going to talk about it with Yunho.”

“Woo, you’re rambling…” The Photography student suddenly said, smiling a bit.

“Oh, sorry…” The other smiled too and all the tension between them dissolved. San got up from his bed and sat beside him.

“Do you really like me back?” He asked, uncertain and Wooyoung rolled his eyes.

“My soulmate mark changed to match yours, San, what do you think?” The Communications student asked, a bit exasperated and the other let an anxious laugh come out.

“It’s just… It’s unreal, Woo. You and Sangie are so perfect together and here are you saying I’m your new soulmate?”

“Well, I not sure about that exactly. I’m still confused by what Yunho said, but I think he meant that you are my soulmate too?” He offered, not sure, making San laugh.

“So Yeosang is my soulmate too?” The Photography student asked, laughing.

“I don’t know, San!” Wooyoung answered, completely exasperated by now and San only laughed harder.

“Woo, it doesn’t matter…” He said, still giggling while the other boy pouted. “I never even thought that I would have a soulmate. I’m just glad you like me back.” The boy finished saying, offering the other a soft smile, which he mirrored for a few seconds before getting serious again.

“Well, about that…” The Communications student started, not sure of how to continue. He scratched his head, embarrassed and a bit confused, but San held his other hand, squeezing lightly. “I’m still in love with Yeosang too, San. I love both of you and, I don’t know if that can work for you and…”

“Hey…” The other called, using his other hand to turn Wooyoung’s face to him. “I don’t mind about that. I never wanted to break you two.”

“So, you… Would you be my boyfriend too?” The boy asked, becoming enthusiastic.

“Yeah, well…” San started, confused but suddenly sad to see Wooyoung wilt a bit by his words. “I will, but I need some time to get used to the idea, okay?” He said, looking right into the other’s eyes so that he could feel his sincerity. Which it was felt since the Communications student nodded excitedly.

The two boys talked for a bit longer, unmaking any misunderstanding they had during the last few months and both felt very relieved that things were going to be okay between them again. Wooyoung left after some time, proud of himself for going through another conversation he had avoided for so long. And San’s promise made him hopeful for the future, where he could be with the two boys he loved in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, we are very close to the end now.  
> I really don't know what to feel, but I hope this chapter has reached your expectations (or at least was nice to finally see Wooyoung being mature and talking to people).  
> Anyway, as usual, thank you so much for all the love. Every hit, kudos, and comment is deeply appreciated.  
> See you next week for the last one.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything gets well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. The last chapter. Enjoy!

San stayed back in his dorm during the rest of that afternoon thinking about what Wooyoung had told him. He felt very happy about the fact the other boy liked him back, and he hadn’t lied about not caring about him being with Yeosang too. For someone who had been always so free in his commitments to people, he would be the last person to judge or deny Wooyoung for that. Still, he felt like he needed to get the Psychology student’s approval too to start this relationship. Especially because the other hadn’t explained that well how they would make things work between the three of them and well, Jongho too.

The Communications student went to hang out in the coffee shop too after talking to San and got there before Yeosang and Jongho. He sat with Yunho, Seonghwa, and Hongjoong at a table close to the counter and they all got very surprised by how happy and light he seemed. They all asked him what had happened, but Wooyoung, recovering his normal antics, played mysterious instead of just telling them.

Yeosang and Jongho got there, holding hands, which made Seonghwa raise his eyebrow to Wooyoung. The two boys went straight to the counter to buy their drinks before sitting down with them. When they did, the Communications student greeted his boyfriend with a kiss on the cheek, making him blush and the high school rolled his eyes. Wooyoung smirked towards Jongho, who just raised Yeosang’s hand that he was still holding.

“Wait, what the actual fuck is going on here?” Hongjoong asked, wild, while Seonghwa looked very confused and Yunho was adding two plus two.

“Sangie and I are okay again,” Wooyoung said, simply, getting a warning look from his boyfriend.

“Yeah, because you fucked up things with him, right, hyung?” Jongho provoked.

“It’s not because you are also dating my boyfriend now that you can meddle in our part of the relationship, child.” He provoked back, sticking his tongue to the younger.

“You two, stop.” Yeosang intervened and turned to Jongho. “What did I just told you?”

“He started, hyung!” The high school student pointed to Wooyoung, who was now making funny faces in his direction.

“I don’t care who started!” The Psychology student exclaimed, going from one boyfriend to the other. “For this to work, you two need to mature about things.”

“That’s not going to happen, Sangie…” Yunho said, smiling comfortingly to him, who sighed since Jongho had also started to makes faces to Wooyoung.

“Is this what you deal with?” He asked the Magic student, already exhausted. The boy only nodded, making Yeosang sigh again. “I’m already regretting this.”

“Wait, wait…” Hongjoong said, getting everybody’s attention again. “What is happening?”

“Babe, I think Yeosang is now dating both Wooyoung and Jongho…” Seonghwa said, putting a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. The Arts student turned to him, eyebrow raised and the Architecture student shrugged before turning back to Wooyoung. “What about San?” The question came out with a small hint of warning.

“He asked me a few days to get used to the idea…” The Communications student answered, completely serious now and Yeosang turned to him too. The boy nodded to his boyfriend, smiling and the Psychology student smiled back too.

“Okay, fine…” Hongjoong said suddenly, still confused. “I get that you two got back together…” He pointed to Wooyoung and Yeosang. “And that you, brat…” He pointed now just to the Communications student. “Figured it out your mutual crush with San, but…” The Arts student then turned to Jongho and pointed to the hand still holding the Psychology student’s one. “When did this happened?” The other boys laughed and Mingi appeared suddenly at the table since he had finished his shift.

“Oh, our Jongie had a crush on Yeosang since the beginning of the semester, didn’t you?” The barista said suddenly like he was talking to a little child, making everyone surprised.

“Hyung!” The high school student complained to Yunho.

“Sorry, Jong-ah. After I could tell Mingi about what was happening to Wooyoung, I kind of told him too about your crush…” Jongho closed off his expression to his older brother, before thinking about what he has just said.

“But how did you know?” He asked, confused. “I’ve never told you about it.”

“I have eyes, Jongho.” The Magic student said, not bothered by the annoyed expression that was back on the youngest face.

The rest of the afternoon was spent between teasing remarks and explanations. It was great for all of them to unwind from their schoolwork by spending time with their friend group almost back to normal. After they left the coffee shop, Seonghwa went to check up on his younger brother, Hongjoong went back to his now free of Wooyoung apartment, Yunho, Mingi, and Jongho went back to the brother’s house and Wooyoung went back with Yeosang to their dorm. It somehow seemed like nothing had happened, but they all knew how much things had changed.

Finals week then hit the boys like a trainwreck. They all got into that crazy mode university students get at the end of the semester when they fuel themselves with too much caffeine and not enough sleep. Seonghwa had basically camped out on Hongjoong’s apartment just o be able to see his boyfriend, Mingi stayed back at his dorm so that he and Yunho could focus, and Wooyoung accepted to go with Yeosang to the library to study because they were getting too distracted in their dorm.

The only other person that the Communications student was seeing during those days was San because they were finishing up the final details of their project. It was nice that things seemed alright with them on the surface, but every time the Photography smiled at Wooyoung, he just wanted to grab his face and kiss him breathless. But the other still hadn’t said anything about their status and the boy was starting to feel anxious.

The night before their last presentation, the project partners met up in the hall where the exhibition would stay for the next semester. San was carrying the printed photos and they started hanging them on the walls without saying much. It was kind of amazing seeing their hard work right in front of them.

“Hyung’s photo is incredible…” The Communications student said, looking up the photo of Hongjoong’s disgusted face covered in purple light that he had just finished hanging on the wall.

“It is…” The other commented, not paying much attention while hanging Jongho’s photo. “But yours, Sangie’s, and Jongho’s are the most natural…”

“What do you mean?” Wooyoung came to stand next to him as soon as he finished. “Jongho’s look the same as usual.”

“That’s because he is always mad…” San laughed lightly and turned to continue his work. “How is he doing, though?”

“Oh, you know, thinking that he is a better boyfriend to Yeosang than me. Do you believe he came to the library yesterday with coffee and cookies to Sangie and nothing for me?” He complained, annoyed while getting the last photo to hang.

“Well, he is dating Yeosang, not you, Woo.” The Photography student said, shrugging.

“Than I need to find a new boyfriend to do stuff like that for me…” Wooyoung commented, teasingly.

“Well, if you are waiting for me to do that then don’t bother…” The other commented in the same tone, making his partner freeze in place. San finished putting up Jongho’s photo on the wall and turned to the Communications student, who had Seonghwa’s one raised in the direction of the wall. He seemed pale and the boy couldn’t avoid the giggle that came out from. Going to him, the Photography student hugged him through the shoulders, making Wooyong turn to him. “I thought you would be happier.”

“I am happy!” The boy exclaimed, loudly and excitedly. He put up the photo on the wall without any care and it just didn’t come down because San got it in time. He put it back in the ground and turned to Wooyoung, who was already bringing him closer to kiss him.

Their lips met and it was like time stopped. The fit was perfect and the quick way they both deepened the kiss, opening their mouths and letting their tongues explore was perfect. Wooyoung’s arms around San’s neck felt perfect and his hands on the other boy also felt perfect. Soon they were breathless, gasping for air with their foreheads resting against each other.

“We should finish this soon, Woo…” The Photography student whispered, staring at the other's lips.

“Why?” He whispered back, hugging him closer and pecking his lips.

“So that we can go back to my dorm.” In the same second, Wooyoung detached himself from San and put the last photo on the wall properly. The partner helped out and they soon were on his bed, making out, since Mingi was still out revising in the library.

Feeling the Communications student's weight over him, while his hands explored his arms and sides, was so incredible that San’s last worry went out the window. On the few days he stayed away from Wooyoung to think properly, the main thing that would keep on coming over his brain was how things would work. So he had texted Yeosang about it, knowing the boy would explain it a lot better than his boyfriend.

The Psychology student had explained that his relationship with Wooyoung had become polyamorous in the way they both would have relationships with other people. But their agreement only allowed one other romantic and sexual relationship, since they both were just attracted to one other person. He also said Jongho had agreed to that agreement and thought it would be a good fit for them too, especially because they were taking things in a rhythm that was natural for them, but San was free to make whatever agreement he wanted with Wooyoung.

That had the boy going over a mind loop. He had been so focused on his feelings for the Communications student that he hadn’t even thought about what would happen if he felt attracted to somebody else. But his project partner felt so right in his arms, that he knew that wasn’t going to be the case so soon. Still, he put a hand on Wooyoung’s shoulder to stop him trailing his mouth to his neck.

“Woo…” His voice came out breathy and whining when he called the other’s name, which was the exact opposite thing he wanted at that moment. “Shouldn’t we talk a bit more? Before doing this?”

“You are the one who invited me to your dorm, Sannie…” He said, whispering just over the other boy's lips, going down again to kiss him, resting both of his hands at the sides of his head.

“I know…” The Photography student said when Wooyoung let him breathe again after the kiss. “But I’m going to be more comfortable after we talk about our agreement…” The other nodded and pecked his lips before sitting on the bed. San took a few seconds to calm himself down before doing the same and sat in front of him. Quickly, one of his hands found Wooyoung’s and rested on top of it. “I just wanted to say that I’m totally fine with you dating Yeosang too if that wasn’t clear before, and…” He breathed deeply, gathering courage, and the other gave him an expecting look and nod. “For now, I’m okay with having the same agreement you have with him.” With that, the Communications student widened his eyes in shock. He had completely forgotten to explain the details of his relationship with Yeosang to San. “Don’t worry, Sangie explained it all to me…” Wooyoung breathed relieved. “But, I don't know how things are going to be in the future, so I want you to know that if I ever find someone else that I also want to be with, you are going to be the first one to know.”

“Okay…” The Communications student said. “I can get on board with that.” He, then, took his hand from under San’s and started dragging it up to his arm. “I was ready to get on board with you even if you wanted to keep on having casual sex with other people.” Wooyoung’s hand got his shoulder while he got closer to his new boyfriend, putting the other hand on his hips.

“Are you saying that just to kiss me again?” San asked, laughing while also getting closer.

“Maybe....” He whispered right the other’s lips again, with one hand going under his shirt and the other to his black hair. The kiss brought them both to lay down on the bed and Mingi got to the dorm an hour later, just to see his best friend pinned down on his bed by a naked Wooyoung.

The next morning, after traumatizing the Economics student one more time, Wooyoung and San had their final presentation during the Photography 101 class and, after class, Professor Lee checked their exhibition. Once more, he only had praise for the boy's work, completely unaware of everything that the project had put them through the semester. He left to check the other’s exhibitions and both boys went to their next classes with just the time to share a small peck before going away.

The celebration from the photography project only came after the semester was over. The eight boys had saved money to go out for hanwoo and they went all out that night. Everyone, except for Jongho, got so drunk that they had to deal with Mingi trying to undress Yunho when they were still on the barbecue restaurant, Wooyoung and San replicating their scene on Hongjoong’s apartment and Yeosang covering Jongho’s eyes because of that, while the owner of the apartment was in the bathroom giving moral support to his boyfriend, who was throwing up. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but their happiness was palpable in the air, now the stress of Wooyoung’s first semester in university had ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> Here's the 18th and final chapter on the 18th day of December. I seriously just noticed it when on posting.  
> I feel that the end is a bit anticlimatic, especially after everything that went down in this fic, but in a way, life is like that. We go through some stuff, learn, make changes, and then go back to our daily routine. We can only hope to find people in our lives that make things a bit better with their love and support.  
> Anyway, I want to thank everyone who has got to the end, hoping that this story could have helped you in any way, even if it was just to spend some time reading something fun.  
> I felt very touched by every single kudos or comment this fic has received. You guys have no idea how the response of this fic (and series in general) have helped me feel safe and secure in the pathway I'm in life. That's why I keep on thanking you all the time. I do feel extremely grateful.  
> For anyone who is accompanying the series, I'm finishing posting [ part 5](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903313) this month too and starting a new one in January, so keep an eye for that.  
> Okay, I think I said too much now, so see you around.
> 
> I'm lowkey reclusive in social media, but you can find me at [@lookspatricia](https://twitter.com/lookspatricia) and [lookslikepatricia](https://lookslikepatricia.tumblr.com/).


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